


A Fresh Coat

by mizutanitony



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Absent Parents, Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Parents, Angst, Art, Artistic License, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Crush, Awkward Dates, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Awkward Romance, Awkward Tension, Awkwardness, Best Friends, Butch/Femme, Campfires, Camping, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Female Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Relationships, Comedy, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Cute Ending, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Fluff, Drawing, Drinking, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Female Friendship, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gift Giving, Girls Kissing, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Happy Ending, Headcanon, Healthy Relationships, Holding Hands, Hugs, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Love You, Kissing, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Wedding, Leather Jackets, Lesbian Character, Light Angst, Little Brothers, Love Bites, Making Out, Meet the Family, Meeting the Parents, Mistaken Identity, Mistakes, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Movie Reference, Moving In Together, Multi, Neck Kissing, Not A Fix-It, OTP Feels, One True Pairing, Opposites Attract, Original Character(s), Other, Out of Character, Overprotective, Overworking, POV Female Character, Painting, Platonic Female/Female Relationships, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Please Don't Hate Me, Please Don't Kill Me, Pool & Billiards, Protective Siblings, Protectiveness, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Rough Kissing, Sexual Tension, Shoujo-ai, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Story within a Story, Stress Relief, Swimming, Tattoos, Texting, Time Skips, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsunderes, United States, Useless Lesbians, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, What-If, Why Did I Write This?, Wordcount: Over 10.000, Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-25 13:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14978336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizutanitony/pseuds/mizutanitony
Summary: An AU fanfiction about reclusive artist Mei Aihara, Granddaughter of famous artist Reo Aihara, as she reflects on her career and the events that led her to meeting and eventually falling in love with talent agent, Yuzu Okogi.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this idea came from me just listening to a love song that applies to a movie. Guess which movie it is? If you know movies, you'll know it when you see it.
> 
> And so, I'm going to be modifying some of the behavior so expect a bit of Out of character stuff. I'm sorry for that, but it's going to need to be that because this is a HUGE AU story.
> 
> So here's what's going to happen.
> 
> This story is not set in Japan but the US so...language and stuff will be modified and why some of this is going to seem off because we're dropping some of the Japanese speech patterns. But I'm going to try and keep the core personalities as close to original as possible...but give me some slack on this, I'm stressed from my other story, so this is my way of just working off some of the tension from that because that story is getting heavy.
> 
> I hope you guys like this.
> 
> Also 39 just wholly...kinda...took away a bunch of stuff from Uncomfortable Truths...do you guys...still wanna read that even with the canon that was just shown? I want to continue it; I, want to know if you guys will still like it.
> 
> Ps...this was supposed to be a one-shot...it is not going to be a one-shot.

 

 

Chapter 1

"I can't believe you talked me into this," grumbled Mei as she adjusted her jacket and stared around at the large crowd and painting covered walls of the Udagawa Art Gallery.

Mei didn't know why she'd allowed Yuzu to drag her to this event as she wasn't the main attraction, but if there was anything the past eight years had taught Mei, it was that she had a hard time refusing the blonde. Which was why, instead of working, Mei allowed Yuzu to take her out for the evening, despite knowing Yuzu knowing Mei's distaste for being put out on public display, no matter how crucial it was for her career. Even so, Mei avoided them whenever possible, preferring to let Yuzu do her job while she focused on her artwork.

Mei was already behind on several commissions not to mention the issues with her latest attempt on a new project wasn't going as planned and it was frustrating the crap out of her.

"I know, I know." Yuzu grabbed a couple of glasses of wine from a passing waiter and handed one to Mei. As it was a work event, Yuzu dressed in a pair of slacks and a blue button-up shirt with a red bow. The outfit was a stark contrast to the leather jacket and paint covered jeans, and shirt Mei was wearing making the black-haired woman feel rather out of place. "But Udagwa asked me to bring you, and I promised I would bring you as a personal favor to him. A few buyers have been asking to see you, and they said they'd be willing to spend a bit more if they saw some of the artists show up. So it benefits everyone, not just you."

"Of course." Mei sipped her wine and winced at the acidity. "Why am I not surprised that it's about the money?"

"Because that money pays your bills." Yuzu took a sip as well and nearly spat out what was in her mouth. "Oh God, this is foul."

"I've had worse." Mei downed her drink and pointed at Yuzu's glass. "Are you going to finish that?"

Yuzu chuckled and reached out for Mei's paint and clay covered hand, and once their fingers locked she handed over the glass. Mei drank this one a little more slowly, and after walking around for a few minutes, she quietly said, "And just so you know, the bills that get paid through these things are  _ours,_  not mine."

"That's true." Yuzu took her glass back and finished the rest of the wine, slightly more accustomed to the taste, but still finding it unpleasant. "If that's the case then maybe try and be a little nicer to them? I like having a big house to come home to."

"We'll see." Mei started leading Yuzu through the gallery, stopping every so often to greet a patron or admire some of the other works that were on sale. "But if I recall you're the one who decided to let Harumi take over the sales of my works, so if we fall behind, it's your fault, not mine for you giving up the extra income."

"I'm not complaining." Yuzu nudged Mei with her shoulder before kissing her on the cheek, in clear sight of several guests. Some of them giggled while a few turned their heads up at the display. "I make more than enough from other clients. Besides it's a little unfair to take  _all_  the money from your sales when other people work just as hard as me."

"I wouldn't mind it," snorted Mei as she stared up at a large abstract landscape painting of a nearby mountain range. "But I understand why you're willing to give up the money. It's one of the things I love about you."

From the corner of her eye, Mei spotted Harumi who was in the process of finishing up a sale on a more expressionist piece Mei had turned in for this exhibition. She wasn't particularly proud of it, upon closer inspection, Mei found her brushwork to be sloppy, and in retrospect, Mei found herself wishing she'd have chosen a darker orange for some of the background shadings not to mention she wasn't happy with the shade of green she'd used. But it couldn't be helped since she'd had six other pieces to finish and couldn't waste her time being finicky and so long as the customer was happy, Mei wasn't going to spend too much time worrying about it.

When she finished her sale, Harumi excused herself from the guest and waved at Mei and Yuzu, both of them waving back, and as Harumi walked toward them, Mei found herself thinking about the moments that had led up to her current predicament.

It had been roughly ten years since Mei had first met Harumi; back in the latter half of their senior year of high school shortly after Mei had first visited the tattoo parlor where Harumi's sister had been apprenticing. They had seen each other around school from time to time, but after Mei's first appointment at the salon, the two began managed to strike up a close, but slightly awkward friendship.

While her sister shared a similar disposition as Mei, both of them being rather blunt and straightforward people, Harumi was a little more open though she tended to avoid conflict. However, being around her had been good for Mei as if it hadn't been for their friendship, Mei wouldn't have met Yuzu.

At the time of their first meeting, Mei was still in recovery from not only the death of her grandfather but also several months fallout of fighting to get back tens of thousands of dollars worth of paintings her previous dealer and broker had sold without her knowledge.

Not that Mei was entirely against selling them, her grandfather had said that if she needed to, she had his blessing to sell them. But the fact the man stole them from right under her nose while she was in mourning was something she couldn't forgive.

Many of the pieces had been unfinished works her grandfather had started, but due to his illness, his body had become too frail even to hold a brush, thus leaving them half-done or barely started. Mei had offered to help him finish, but when she did, he'd steadfastly refused her.

"These are my works, Mei," he'd said after her what had to have been her tenth offer to help him complete his work. "If I'm to end my life without finishing them, then so be it. Concentrate on your vision and let mine die with me."

But Mei refused to give up, and each time she offered, her grandfather refused to listen, and Mei had to watch him slowly slip away, and when he finally did pass, the vultures arrived.

Within days of his death, several dealers descended upon the house that had been her family home for at least four generations, ever since her great-grandparents had moved from Japan and settled in Chicago, being one of the few Japanese families in the area to avoid being locked away in the camps during the forties. But that hadn't stopped her grandfather from having to watch his friends be locked away for the crime of "being Japanese." At the time, he couldn't actively speak out, so in the act of defiance, her grandfather had spent much of his youth painting traditional Japanese art during his childhood, earning him the disfavor of his parents for a time as it brought unwanted attention toward the family along with a small criminal record.

But eventually the war did end, and when it did, his works caught the attention of a few more popular artists in the area, and they wrote him several letters of recommendation that allowed him to attend the art college in Philadelphia and begin his career as an artist.

Over the years her grandfather had managed to create a name for himself and through his works managed to amass a large following and with that came a private fortune that put his parents to shame. Luckily for him, he managed to stay relevant throughout the majority of his life until he semi-retired after Mei's father left her in his care shortly after the death of her mother.

Unlike his father, Sho had a bit of wanderlust, and though lacking the talent of his father in creating original pieces, he made a successful career out of doing restoration work of older works and teaching art history in famous colleges, museums, and artistic institutes.

Despite his seemingly neglectful nature, Sho did his best to give Mei the attention he knew she craved. He visited often, sent her letters and gifts, and called her every few days. Mei could remember eagerly anticipating every single one of those things, but the visits were what she loved the most. How he'd come home wearing some new outfit from a country he'd visited or showing her how to make some new kind of recipe he'd learned. Sho always brought her lavish gifts and spent every minute he could with her if she didn't have school when he came home. They were the best memories she had of her childhood, outside of the times she spent with her best friend Himeko, but they were also the worst because no matter what, in the end, he always ended up leaving her.

She remembered each night before going to sleep, hearing her father and grandfather argue about how Sho needed to stay behind for Mei's sake. After one such argument, Mei remembered waking up to find her father sitting next to her bed and asking her if she'd like to travel with him. She didn't know if it was because of her age or the fact that she was half asleep, but she'd refused, and he didn't push it, saying that he understood and that he'd always love her.

Even after her refusal, he still came home to visit, but each visit became shorter and shorter until, by the time she turned eighteen, he only visited during the major holidays or when he happened to be in town for something work-related. Outside of that, their communication was limited to strictly digital means and the occasional letter.

By the time their relationship had reached that level, Mei rarely answered any attempt he had made at communicating with her, throwing herself into her studies and after high school focusing solely on her art, practicing the styles her grandfather had spent years drilling into her.

Mei had to admit that he'd been a hard teacher, enforcing in her the need to always practice the basics of each style before allowing her to go off and experiment. Despite his rigid adherence to the basics, never stifled her sense of creativity, even if it took her off the traditional styles of art he'd pounded into her brain.

Mei remembered the first time he'd caught her attempting to draw something out of a comic book using a digital tablet she'd bought with some money she'd earned doing sketches in the park. Thinking that he'd punish her for using a digital medium and for attempting to draw something so childish, Mei had buried them in her closet, only bringing them out when her grandfather thought she'd gone to bed.

When he did find her, Mei expected him to yell at her for not adhering to his perspective that the traditional methods were the only real ones. But he'd surprised her, telling her that he was proud of her curiosity and her willingness to try and incorporate new techniques that he'd been unable to figure out.

"I'm just too old," he'd said with a laugh and waved at his hand at her computer. "Don't get me wrong; I understand that this is how much of my art is sold these days. But I think the digital style is something I'll never be able to learn, so I'll leave that to you. But remember never to neglect the fundamentals, Mei. If you become too reliant on things that make your work easier, you'll forget what it's like to put in the effort."

Mei had taken that advice to heart and did her best to stick to them, and for a few years, she'd managed to resist the lure of using digital programs to do her artwork.

She'd solely worked through the physical medium, allowing her grandfather to teach her what he could as his body weakened and by seventeen she'd managed to find a dealer on her own, despite his recommendation for using the family he'd worked with for years. It wasn't that she was ungrateful to him for trying to look after her. He had done it for so long that if someone were to ask him about her father, she was more likely to talk about her grandfather than her actual one, but like most eighteen-year-olds, she felt the compelling need to prove that she was an adult and could make it on her own.

Around the time that happened though, her grandfather had slowly slipped to the point of no return and while she was making decent money through her broker, the man had made off with nearly fifty of her grandfather's pieces along with taking off more than his fair share of the money he'd made from selling her works. This forced Mei to pull all her remaining works from Amamiya's gallery, locking them away, and begin trying to make a name for herself via the digital spectrum.

It had been a painstaking process seeing as how mei had neglected using her tablet for several years. When she first started out, Mei had no clue what she was doing, and it took her over a year to finally master the use of the programs required to do her work. For some, this would have been a monumental task, but luckily for Mei, she had very her needs were few, not just financially but also regarding hobbies and food, so she had plenty of time to engross herself in her studies. But she didn't shut herself off completely, and she managed to make time to hang out with Harumi, her sister, and the few other friends she had, but most of her time was consumed with offering up samples to gaming, comic publishers, and other companies that still required conceptual artwork or illustrators.

At first, her work had been ignored, but with enough time and perseverance Mei had finally earned some recognition, and she was beginning to make a decent living as a freelance artist. Much of that had been due to Mei figuring out ways to transfer her paintings into her computer and using her editing software to touch them up, giving her an edge over her strictly digital counterparts. Not only that, but thanks to her lawyers, Mei not only earned residuals from the projects she worked on, but Mei now had a rather impressive collection of distractions ranging from, artbooks, movies, video games and when she had the time she spent her days looking for any signs of her work and was rewarded with seeing characters looking almost exactly the way she'd designed them. For a time, Mei had found herself happy with the way her life was going. But as the months turned to years, she'd received no word about any of her grandfather's paintings; she slowly slipped into a depression that led to her almost wholly abandoning her grandfather's teachings. But that all changed the day Harumi called her and asked her to come to her boss' office to verify if a painting a woman had brought in was a genuine was, in fact, an authentic Reo Aihara painting.

When she'd received the news, Mei had been in the middle of doing a painting concept for a book cover and after hanging up nearly broke her leg running down the stairs while simultaneously balancing a box of photographs and trying to pull on her boots and jacket trying to reach her taxi before it drove off. She vaguely remembered yelling at the woman for not driving faster, despite the icy roads and throwing at least three times the amount of her fare before running into the gallery, grabbing Harumi away from a customer and yelling, "Where is it?!"

"Sir, can you give me a moment," said Harumi nervously to the man who'd been interested in a small sculpture that the brunette had been showing to him. "I'll have one of my co-workers finish showing you those few other pieces before you decide. Does that work for you?"

The man gave both Harumi and Mei a curious look but nodded and allowed Harumi to set him up with one of the junior dealers, and once they were in the hallway leading to Udgawa's office, Harumi rounded on Mei, seething.

"You are so lucky that guy works with me on a regular basis! If he'd been someone else, my ass could have been fired!"

"I doubt, Udagawa would fire you over my being impolite," snorted Mei, leaning back against the wall and picking at some of the paint that had gotten under her nails. "You bring in too much money, but if he did fire you, I'd hire you."

"To sell what," laughed Harumi as she began leading Mei toward the back. "You told me you weren't gonna focus on selling physical paintings until you got your grandfather's stuff back."

"Well, maybe today's my lucky day," said Mei offhandedly as she flicked the last bit of paint from her finger, "and possibly yours if things work out."

"Maybe it is." Harumi stopped just before the door and turned back to Mei with a strained expression on her face. "Don't get your hopes up, Mei. I know you've been spending a lot of time and money looking for his stuff and we're doing our best, so if it's not the real thing, please don't lose your shit."

"No promises," chuckled Mei as she shifted the box of photographs under her arm and pointed at the doorknob. "Are you going to open it?"

Harumi rolled her eyes and knocked on the door before opening it and letting Mei in.

"Well, part of it was because of this," was the first thing Mei remembered Yuzu saying as she knelt down toward the far right corner of the painting and began pointing at what Mei figured were the characters that made up her grandfather's name. "It's the way they're painted onto the canvas, and when I asked the person who brought it in where they'd got it, she said it was an estate sale, but..."

"It wasn't an estate sale," growled Mei as she walked forward and slammed down the small box of photos she'd brought with her and began flipping through the contents, trying to find the series of photos that matched the painting.

"I'm sorry?" Yuzu brushed some of her hair out of her face and glared up at Mei, annoyed that someone had just interrupted her. "Harumin, do you know her?"

"Well yeah." Harumi seemed as annoyed with Yuzu as she had been with Mei about the situation, but was doing a better job at keeping her emotions in check. "This is Mei Aihara; she's a friend of mine and the granddaughter of Reo Aihara. She's here to verify if this really is one of her grandfather's paintings."

"Oh." Yuzu stood up and straightened the long skirt she'd been wearing and nervously approached Mei.

"I'm Yuzu Okogi," said the shorter woman with a slight bow. "I'm the agent that..."

"I'm not concerned with that right now," said Mei tiredly as she pulled the pictures she needed out and pushed her way past the blonde, ignoring her cries of anguish at being ignored. "Udagawa do you mind if I..."

"Go right ahead," said her grandfather's former broker with an anxious smile. He was a tall man, dressed in a fine suit with a slight bit of gray hair. He was one of the few people Mei still trusted, and she vowed that if she ever returned to painting, she'd only work with him and his people. "From the look of it, it is the genuine thing, but you never know. There are a lot of decent counterfeiters out there.

"That's true," sighed Mei as she began inspecting the lines, looking for the occasional marker her grandfather put into his works. She knew that a few of them were very easy to spot and could easily be replicated, but those weren't the ones she was looking for. The ones she needed were usually hidden in corners or in shapes that people typically didn't pay attention to.

Usually, Mei wouldn't have had much of a problem finding the symbols she needed to identify it, but this painting was one she had little knowledge about. She was more familiar with his finished works which is why Mei was so keen on finding the symbols. Given the knowledge of how many unfinished works her grandfather had in progress, it would have been easy for someone to attempt to recreate his style and try to pass it off as one of his, which is why Mei had the photos. She was painstakingly aware of how her grandfather meticuously catalogued his work, having taken several of the photographs herself during her youth and after nearly twenty minutes Mei finally found what it was she was looking for hidden in an odd looking

blob near situated between two dark circles.

She grew so excited at her discovery that Mei dropped the stack of pictures and began chuckling to herself while the others all eyed her cautiously.

"This really is one," gasped Mei after she'd found the small symbol of her name her grandfather had hidden in what Mei could only guess was some bird. She'd gotten so excited that outside of sheer relief, Mei turned to Udagawa and pulled the shocked man into a bone crushing hug as she loudly said, "You actually found one! Udagawa you're incredible."

"I'm glad you think so Mei, but it wasn't me that found it," explained Udagawa, looking rather uncomfortable at Mei's sudden outburst. "It was Yuzu."

"Yuzu?" Mei broke the hug and stared up at her friend, perplexed by what he'd just said. "Who's Yuzu?"

"I am," said the disgruntled looking blonde that Mei had shooed away earlier.

"Oh." Mei stepped away from Udagawa and straightened her jacket and stared the woman over.

Compared to Mei's disheveled appearance, Yuzu was dressed in a lovely button up shirt with a bright bow instead of a tie that was the same shade as her eyes along with a pair of crisp blacks slacks. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat pony-tail and sleek reading glasses that accentuated her round features. Mei could instantly tell that she was either an agent or a broker and decided to keep her distance, regardless of what the woman had done for her.

"Is that all you have to say," growled the blonde indignantly after Mei refused to say anything else.

"Thanks," shrugged Mei before staring at the painting and then at Udagawa. "Is it okay if I take it home with me?"

"No you can't," huffed Yuzu while Harumi held her back in an attempt to keep the two from destroying the office. "I've already called the police, and they said that it has to stay here."

"Did they say why," snorted Mei, growing more annoyed with the blonde by the second.

"How should I know!?" Yuzu had nearly knocked over Harumin as she shook her arms in frustration at Mei's indifference. "All I know is what they told me if you want to know why then maybe you should ask them!"

"Then I'll do that," yawned Mei before asking Udagawa if she could crash in his office for a bit while Udagawa ushered Harumi and Yuzu out of the office saying that they should go to lunch and that it'd be on him.

When they were gone, Mei finally felt a sense of peace at knowing that it was, in fact, possible for her to reclaim her grandfather's legacy and for the first time in she couldn't remember Mei fell into a peaceful sleep until she was woken by Udagawa saying that the police had arrived.

The talk with the cops took forever, and despite being in the same room, Mei ignored most of what the blonde had said, focusing more on when and how she could get her grandfather's painting home. Unfortunately, Mei was forced to admit defeat when the police told her it would be a while before she could take it home since they needed to question the woman who'd attempted to sell it to Yuzu.

After receiving that news, Mei returned home in a fit and shut herself in her studio, pulled out a large number of her paints and began furiously painting and before she knew it two days had passed. On the verge of collapsing, Mei retreated to the shower, devoured and gorged herself on a meal of three-day-old Chinese food before slipping into a hard, uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mei continues to reminsce about her relationship with Yuzu, this time about the first time they'd hung out and slowly began to understand the blonde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad you guys are liking this story. I'll get back to Uncomfortable Truths soon. I just have a lot going on and I just need a goofy distraction.

  
When she woke, the first thing she noticed was that she was no longer laying on her couch, but was instead buried in her blankets. Smacking her lips and grimacing at the odd sensation that accompanied her dried mouth, Mei reached out from under her comforter and fumbled around for the bottled water she kept on her nightstand. When she felt it, she pulled it beneath the blanket and removed the cap and took a swig, coughed, and spilling the water down her chest, but feeling relieved at the cooling sensation in her throat.

After capping the bottle, Mei lifted the blanket slightly, glad to see that the lights were off and that it was dark outside. Pulling the blanket off, Mei climbed out of bed and stumbled blindingly into the bathroom, intending to go back to bed when she was finished but was blinded by the glaring light of her phone when she returned to her bedroom.

Rubbing her eyes, Mei instinctively lowered the brightness on her phone's screen, but was too late to answer the call and after checking the history saw that it was Harumi who called.

Pulling the call history up, Mei dialed Harumi back and when she heard the sound of the call connecting croaked out an annoyed, "What?"

“So you are alive,” laughed Harumi over the sounds of blaring music and screaming people. “Are you okay? I've been trying to call you for the past couple of days, and you didn't pick up."

“Yeah,” coughed Mei as she sat up and took a swig of an opened bottle of water she had next to her bed. “I’m fine I just ended up getting caught up in some work and was up for two days straight then crashed.

“That certainly sounds like you,” grunted Harumi knowing full well how obsessed Mei could get engrossed with her work. "Are you sure you're okay? You seemed kinda pissed when the cops said you couldn't take that painting with you; I was worried you'd do something stupid."

"I'm fine." Mei took another sip of water and sat down on her bed, running her hand through her hair and trying to work a knot that had formed in her neck. "Just a little stiff after sleeping for so long. Where are you?"

“I’m at a bar.” Harumi broke the conversation for a moment and shouted for the bartender to get her another round of shots before returning to Mei. “Mitsuko and Matty are with me right now and wanted to know if you wanted to come and join us. They said they finished the final draft of that tattoo you wanted done. I think you’re gonna like it, I mean it looks awesome, but are you sure you're gonna be okay? You do remember what happened when you got the ones that went along your spine?"

“That's why I'm doing it over multiple sessions.” Mei yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stared at what looked like a blob of gold on canvas. “I already talked it over with your sister so don't worry about it. Did you hear anything from the cops yet?

“Not a thing,” sighed Harumi, sounding as disappointed as Mei felt. “They said it could be awhile before they find the guys who sold it and it’s gotta remain in evidence until then. Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Mei stood up and stretched, groaning loudly as her back popped in several places. “Which bar did you go to?”

“We’re at the Gold Star. Hey, screw you!” There was the sound of a woman shouting back at Harumi and then a few other patrons before the brunette finally calmed down enough to talk to Mei. “Damn, this was a new shirt too.”

“What happened?” Mei was in the middle of pulling on her jeans and tightening her belt when the commotion happened.

“Just some jerk and his girlfriend running into me and not apologizing. Made me spill my whiskey all over the new tee-shirt I got at that concert I went to last week. Ah well, I’m not driving so I think I should be okay. So you coming or just asking for the hell of it?”

“Yeah, I’ll stop by for a bit. I need to get out of the house anyway.” Mei slipped a shirt on and began fastening her tennis shoes. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Is there anyone else with you outside your sister and Matty?”

“Uhhh, outside of Kayo and Yuzucchi, no one comes to mind.”

“Yuzucchi?”

It’d been a long time since Mei had heard someone use a name like that and the only thing that came to mind was the memory of the cantankerous blonde she’d met in Udagawa’s office.

“Yeah, well, you know her as Yuzu. She was the lady who brought in your grandpa’s painting remember?” Mei heard the sound of ice jingling followed by a loud coughing fit from Harumi. “Oh jeez. Hey, Tommy? Are you _trying_  to kill me? I asked for whiskey, not moonshine!”

“Don’t tell me you invited that blonde?” Mei pulled her jacket on and grabbed her keys, a bunch of pencils, and her sketchbook before heading toward the front door.

“Of course I invited her. She’s my friend,” sighed Harumi, “and she did you a solid by bringing us that painting and calling the cops so I told her to stop by if she wanted. It’s not like I planned this since I just now invited you because your dumbass decided to go on a work bender. If you don’t wanna come, that’s fine; there’s a chance she might not come either, she’s pretty busy most days so it’d be a miracle if she does show up.”

“Fine,” snorted Mei as she locked the door and made her way to the street “Just don’t make me talk to her if she shows up.”

“Whatever,” chuckled Harumi deviously. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Despite her trepidation overseeing the blonde again, Mei had to admit Harumi had a point about Yuzu doing her a big favor by calling the police and bringing the painting to Udagawa’s when she could have easily stolen the canvas for her gain. Even if the blonde’s attitude had annoyed her, Mei knew there wasn’t any reason for her to hold a grudge.

She indeed was grateful, and after arriving at the bar, she’d decided to at least attempt an apology, even if the blonde didn’t accept it.

When she entered, Mei was met with the sound smell of booze, bar food, and loud rock music. Her stomach grumbled much to Mei’s annoyance, and she wasn’t surprised to find Harumi and Mitsuko standing at the pool table chatting with a couple of guys while a pink-haired girl sat at the bar looking bored and swirling a giant glass of soda.

Approaching the bar, Mei ordered Tom Collins, and as she waited, she felt a hand on the back of her shoulder and heard a voice slur, “Look who decided to show up!”

Sighing, Mei shrugged the hand from her shoulder and faced the inebriated woman.

“Hello, Matty.”

Matsuri Mizusawa, or more commonly known as Matty, was dressed in her usual outfit of a worn out hoodie, ripped jeans, while her bubblegum pink hair peeked out from beneath a cat ear beanie. She smelt vaguely of smoke and liquor, something that wasn't uncommon for her and Mei knew that unless she indulged her, the younger woman would refuse to leave her alone.

“Finally crawled out of your hole, eh," chuckled Matty before sipping deeply from her rum and coke.

“I have.” Mei accepted her drink and asked for some water to go with it. “It’s been a decent couple of days, and Harumi told me you were here, so I decided to come and have some fun.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Matsuri reached out for Mei’s sketchbook only to have Mei slap her hand away. “Seriously you gotta relax and hang out with us. It's the weekend so why don't you put your book down and enjoy yourself."

“That’s why I’m here,” snorted Mei as she took a sip of her drink. "To enjoy myself."

“With a sketchbook?” Matsuri leaned back in her chair and took a giant gulp of her rum and coke? “Honestly you gotta learn how to cut loose. I mean yeah you got some booze, but why don’t you play some pool, talk to some people, maybe hit on someone?”

“That’s the last thing I want to do right now.” Mei took another drink and stared down at her friend, rolling her eyes at how stupidly the younger woman was grinning.

“How come?” Matsuri began poking her ice cubes with her straw and tried to suck up what little of her soda remained. “I mean it’s not like it’s a big deal, ya gotta do more than work your ass off. Hell when was the last time you got laid?"

"That is none of your business," growled Mei angrily at Matsuri.

"That answers that question," snickered Matsuri as she held up her glass and signaled for a refill.

Mei bent down and finally noticed the flushness in Matsuri’s cheeks and rolled her eyes when she smelt the lingering scent of rum on her friend’s breath. Even though she was only a couple of years younger, Matsuri was a talented artist in her own right and worked with Harumi’s sister, Mitsuko, in her tattoo parlor where Mei was a somewhat regular customer. Though her respect for the younger girl’s abilities was great, Mei avoided hiring her, instead preferring to use Mitsuko as her primary given Matsuri’s penchant of adding in quirky little additions that her customers never asked for.

Most of them seemed to enjoy it however since Matsuri did find a way to incorporate it into the design rather seamlessly. If anything Mei had to chalk it up to being similar to the way she or her grandfather would find ways to leave their mark in their works, though Mei preferred doing it to an actual canvas instead of human skin.

“Dude what are you staring at?”

Matsuri blinked and shifted back from Mei a little and would have fallen out of her seat if it wasn’t for Mei catching her.

“How many have you had?”

Mei was well aware of Matsuri’s tolerance level and while it was nothing to scoff at, the girl was fond of mixed drinks that hid the flavor of the alcohol and had a tendency not to monitor how many she had, which was the only reason Mei wasn’t yelling at her friend about her prying into her personal life.

“Four or five,” hummed Matsuri before holding out her arms and greedily flexing her fingers in anticipation for the drink the bartender was bringing her, only to have it snagged by Mei.

“Get her usual meal and a pitcher of water, please. I’ll be taking this.”

“What?!” Matsuri slid out of her chair but was almost immediately knocked back into it thanks to her legs giving out. “Come on Mei give it back!”

Mei laughed to herself and sipped the cocktail before helping Matsuri back into her chair and patted her friend on the top of her head.

“Get some water and food in you, then booze. I’ll even order your first drink afterward, deal?”

There was a tense moment of silence as the bartender watched the intense staring contest between the two women and let out a loud sigh of relief when Matsuri finally nodded in defeat under Mei’s cold glare.

“Okay,” gasped Matsuri while a green tinge slowly formed in her cheeks. “But I want a strong drink next time, got it?!”

“Sure,” nodded Mei while wondering just how long Matsuri would be able to stay awake once she finally got some food in her stomach. “Just take care of yourself, and I’ll check on you in a minute.”

Taking the drinks, Mei headed toward her usual table in a corner near the pool table and sat down and took a sip of her cocktail before flipping open her sketchbook and began sketching out the scene in front of her.

As usual, Mitsuko had dressed in an outfit made up of dress pant’s a long sleeved button up shirt and a tie, if t hadn’t been for her rolled up sleeves exposing her numerous tattoos, she would have looked like an average office worker.

Harumi, on the other hand, was dressed down in a pair of jeans and her alcohol drenched tee-shirt and laughing with one of the guys she and her sister were playing pool with. From the looks of them, the men were either clients of Mitsuko’s or just people who were interested in wondering where she’d gotten her tattoos done. Either way, Mei was too busy focusing on her work to pay much attention, knowing that at some point Harumi would join her or call her over to play a game with them.

Until then she was content to sketch the scenes as they played out in front of her.

The book she was using already had dozens of various pictures from her previous visits to the bar.

Some were simple drawings of the furniture or the bottles behind the bar, experiments in lighting and shadowing, but the majority of them were of people and their various activities. A few had people laughing, some crying, others just sitting quietly at their tables staring up at whatever happened to be playing on the television. There were even days when Mei somehow managed to catch the occasional intimate moment such as a kiss or a couple holding hands.

Despite the noise, Mei enjoyed visiting the bar thanks to the honesty the atmosphere provided and never left without filling no less than three pages with each visit.

Feeling her hunger begin to set in, Mei settled on ordering her usual fair and when she looked up to order she was greeted with the sight of a blonde woman sitting across from her, staring curiously down at her sketchbook.

“What the..,” gasped Mei jumping back in her seat and smacking her head on the edge of the booth bench, sending a sharp pain through her skull.

“Are you all right,” asked the blonde, trying to slide out of her chair so she could check on Mei. “Hey, can we get some bagged ice over here?”

“I’m fine,” hissed Mei as she began checking to see if there was any blood on her fingertips. Luckily for Mei, the worst her injury would probably give her is pounding headache.

“Are you sure?” Yuzu stopped moving and stared at Mei cautiously, but took the ice the bartender brought them and handed it to Mei.

“Pretty sure.” Even though she was trying to play tough, Mei took the ice and applied it to her injury, wincing at the searing cold. “Thanks.”

“Well consider it repayment for scaring the crap out of you.” Yuzu smiled at Mei, her face burning with embarrassment. “First I get you pissed at me and then I nearly make you knock yourself out. Keep hanging around me, and I’m likely to kill you.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” grunted Mei as she adjusted the bag. “Just open your mouth the next time you decide to sit down with someone. I don't really pay attention when I get absorbed in my work.”

“Sorry.” Yuzu grinned sheepishly and brushed some of her hair behind her ear and looked up at Mei with a small blush forming in her cheeks. “You just looked so focused that I couldn’t help but sit down and watch you work for a bit. You’re pretty amazing.”

Blushing, Mei looked down at the page and seemed mildly pleased with herself. It wasn’t overly detailed, but it did manage to capture the essence of her friends as they enjoyed their game of pool, but as usual, Mei noticed that she felt like something was lacking, but she couldn’t place what it was.

“It’s not bad,” said Mei pushing aside the paper and staring up at Yuzu. “But, I’m sure you’re used to seeing people work like this all the time given how you’re a dealer, broker, agent? I never really did catch what it is that you do.”

“Agent and occasional broker,” smirked Yuzu before taking a sip of what Mei guessed was a martini. “That’s how I found your grandfather’s painting. The lady that brought it in uses me on occasion to sell works she finds or wants me to find someone to help verify if a painting is legitimate.”

“Did she happen to tell you anything?” Mei set the bag down on a coaster and dabbed at her hair with a napkin. “About the guys that sold her the painting I mean?”

“Just that she went to what she thought was an estate sale at an auction house and that’s how she got it.” Yuzu finished her drink and ran her finger along the rim of the glass. “After that, she brought it to me to see if I could find someone and I dunno, I just remembered hearing about what happened with your grandfather and since pretty much anyone who knows his work knows he’s exclusive through the Udagawa company, I brought it there and then they called you.”

“I see.” Mei sat back and took a sip of her Tom Collins and stared at Yuzu, amazed that the woman sitting in front of her had been the uptight art dealer she'd seen a few days prior.

Outside of work hours, Yuzu seemed to prefer bright colors, opting to wear a bright orange and red striped shirt that appeared to cut off at her shoulders. Her hair was still pulled back in the same ponytail, but Yuzu instead of studded earrings, Yuzu wore a pair of large hoops along with a series of bangles on her wrists.

In school, Mei would have laughed at her, finding her choice in clothing to be both gaudy and pretentious, but after becoming friends with Harumi, her attitude had changed, and she'd slowly changed her opinion, learning that sometimes a person's choice in clothing wasn't always a direct reflection of their personality. So, as a promise to hers and Harumi's friendship, Mei withheld her judgment until she got a better understanding of the blonde.

Finishing off her first cocktail, Mei sighed and whispered, “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“I’m sorry?” Yuzu lifted her head and stared at Mei, oblivious to what the woman had just said.

“I said…”

Mei reached over for the rum and coke and took a long draft, hating its watered down taste, but knowing it was one of the few ways she’d be able to gather the courage to say what was on her mind.

“I said, thanks for doing that,” repeated Mei a little more confident now that she’d finally said it out loud. “For finding my Grandfather’s painting. I was beginning to think I’d never see one of them and….well...I shouldn’t have treated you like that, and I’m sorry for not being more gracious back in Udagawa’s office.”

“Oh.” Yuzu’s face lit up at the words, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Well thanks, that means a lot. But don’t worry too much about it. I get why you got so upset after word got out about what happened to you and your grandfather you have every right to be mad at _anyone_ who somehow gets ahold of one of those paintings.”

“Thanks.” Mei smiled nervously back at Yuzu before hastily taking another drink and staring down at her sketchbook.

“You’re welcome,” said Yuzu with the same strained silence while she continued to fiddle nervously with her glass.

As the silence grew between them, Mei and Yuzu both heard Harumi, Matsuri, and their other friends begin laughing loudly over the music.

Feeling like things were only going to devolve, and not feeling particularly up to imposing her presence on the group, Mei looked up from her sketchbook and noticed that Yuzu’s eyes were locked on it eagerly.

Growing tired of Yuzu’s anxious look, Mei picked the book up and held it out and grunted, “Here.”

“What?” Yuzu gave Mei a shaky smile in an attempt to throw her off, but the way her eyes darted between the book and Mei gave her away.

“You keep looking at my sketchbook.” Mei motioned the book towards Yuzu and nodded. “It’s okay if you want to look at it. They’re not pieces I ever intend on selling so take a look. Think of it as thanks for helping me out.”

“Are you sure?” Yuzu took the book and palmed it carefully. “I mean I know from Harumin you don’t like people seeing your work before it’s finished so...”

“It’s true that I prefer having control of when and where people get to see my work,” answered Mei before waving down a server and asking for some food and a couple of refills. “And since you helped me out, I figured this was the least I could do.”

“Thanks.” Yuzu opened the book and began flipping through it, smiling at all the pictures while Mei alternated between finishing off the rum and coke and her water.

While Yuzu continued to flip through her book, Mei couldn’t focus on anything but her smile. The way her cheeks contoured when her lips moved and how her eyes narrowed when she giggled at whatever was on the page. As she watched the blonde, Mei felt herself reaching for a napkin and pencil and began instinctively sketching her. It wasn’t much, seeing as the napkin wasn’t an ideal material, but Mei made do with what she had, and after several minutes, Mei noticed a shift in Yuzu’s face, causing her to set down her pencil and ask, “What’s wrong?”

Yuzu looked up from the pages and stared at Mei, looking a little less enthused than she previously had.

“What are you talking about?” Yuzu took her drink from the server who’d just arrived, her eyes widening at the immense amount of food Mei had ordered and watched in amusement as Mei began tearing through the wings with ravenous hunger.

“fa draings,” said Mei through a sauce covered mouth of barbecue sauce.

“Say that again,” laughed Yuzu pointing at her mouth and offering Mei a napkin. “I couldn’t hear you through all that half-chewed chicken.”

“Sorry,” answered Mei after she swallowed her food and licked some sauce off her fingers. “I haven’t eaten in a couple of days.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Yuzu reached across the table and wiped a bit of excess sauce from the corner of Mei’s mouth, causing the raven-haired girl to blush, making the blonde giggle. “There we go all clean.”

“Thanks,” muttered Mei as she took a sip of water, avoiding Yuzu’s gaze. It’d been a long time since someone had done something like that to her, and she didn’t know how to respond so she opted to reach out and tap the page Yuzu had stopped on, staining it with a barbecue sauce fingerprint. “But I was talking about the pictures. You looked happy at first, but then out of nowhere, your expression changed. Do you not like them?”

“Oh no, I think they’re great! But ummm..,” Yuzu pointed at the space next to Mei and then at herself, “do you mind if I sit next to you while we talk about this, I think it’ll make it easier for me to explain. If not I get it, and I’ll try to do it from here.”

“I don’t mind,” said Mei as she picked a fry up out of one of the baskets and chewed on it. The truth was she did mind, but only because it meant giving up some of her precious personal space. But once she sat down, Mei found that the smell of her perfume mixed with the warmth of her presence made the situation a lot more bearable.

“Thanks,” said Yuzu before pushing away the baskets and pulling the book toward her and tapping on the faces of the people. “It’s their faces that caught my attention.”

Mei looked at the picture and tried to understand what the blonde was talking about but couldn’t see it.

"I don't get it. What's wrong with them?” Mei had seen these pictures a dozen times before and knew they weren’t perfect. They were practice sketches and weren’t ever going to be made public, so she didn’t pay too much attention to detail. “I was just goofing off they aren’t supposed to taken seriously.”

“Yeah I know,” answered Yuzu with a nervous chuckle. “But it’s just that well….everyone looks kinda sad in them, not all of them, but the later ones all seem to be a little less lively than the others.”

Yuzu flipped to the front of the book and showed Mei some early pictures from when she and Harumi had first started hanging out at the bar. Mei’s technique back then had been a lot less refined, but she did remember having a lot of fun watching Harumi and the others while sketching them. But as she watched Yuzu flip through them, Mei slowly began seeing what the blonde was talking about. It was plain to see that her technique had improved, but as she investigated the pictures, Mei found herself leaning in, finally understanding what it was her drawings were lacking.

“I take it you saw what I was talking about,” asked Yuzu as she tried to angle her chest away from Mei’s ear.

“Yeah, I do,” muttered Mei before moving back a bit too quickly, hitting her ear against Yuzu’s breast, making both girls jump in surprise.

“Sorry,” whispered Mei as she felt a tingle go down her spine thanks to the contact on her ear. Mei shifted away from Yuzu, and the two women did their best to keep a respectful distance as they continued to discuss Mei’s work.

“Don’t worry about it.” Yuzu gave Mei a nervous peripheral glance and said, “But yeah, it was just something I noticed. It’s not a big deal, and if you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”

“No, it’s fine.” Mei reached out for her cocktail and took a long drink before setting it down and began swirling the ice with her straw. “It’s just that now that I think about it, what you’re seeing is probably the result of my grandfather’s death.”

“Oh.” Yuzu shut the book and slid it back toward Mei. “I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“Don’t apologize,” chuckled Mei before chewing on a couple of more fries. “I offered to let you look at it, and since you are an agent, it’s only natural you’d notice it.”

“Thanks.”

"No problem." Mei coughed and sighed, grabbing one of the tacos from a basket and chewed thoughtfully before speaking. "I'm not afraid to talk about it. I mean he's been gone for a while now, and I took care of him as his health failed. I was prepared for it, but it still hurt when he finally did die. Not as much as it would have originally, he spent a lot of time making sure we were both prepared for it and I've had my time to mourn for him. I just don't enjoy the idea of people profiting illegally from his death."

"That's understandable," chuckled Yuzu nervously pointing at one of the baskets. "Do you mind if I have a bit. I haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"Have at it." Mei picked up the basket of fries and the tacos and handed them to Yuzu and the pair of them sat in silence for a few minutes, quietly eating the food Mei had ordered.

"You look good by the way," coughed Mei, her ears burning. "It's definitely a change from what I saw you wearing in Udagawa's office.

"Oh, well, you know it's not something I wear every day, just when Harumi and I go out. Except not in the winter, it's way too cold for that." Yuzu's cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her wordiness and after chewing on her lower lip fo nervously for a moment loudly said, “You know, I can draw too. Would you like to see?”

“Umm sure,” said Mei taken aback by this sudden declaration; handing over her sketchbook and one of her pencil’s. "Go ahead."

“Are you sure?” Yuzu looked down at the book and then at Mei. “This book seems important. I mean there’s a couple of pictures of your grandpa in here, and I don’t wanna destroy it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mei did her best to smile, but she could tell by the blonde’s reaction that she wasn’t doing an excellent job of it. “I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to see and since you gave me some honest feedback maybe you’ll let me give some in return. I promise I won’t be too harsh.”

“Okay,” answered Yuzu eagerly before moving over to her original seat while covering the book with her free arm to keep Mei from catching a peek.

Mei humored her and focused on watching Harumi try and help a _very_ inebriated Matsuri into the bathroom while Mitsuko shared a beer with her pool buddies, while slowly depleting her basket of fries. By the time Yuzu finished, Mei had nearly emptied the basket and placed an order for another

“Here,” said Yuzu shutting the book carefully while using the pen as a bookmark just as the new basket arrived.

Mei took the book and smirked when she saw Yuzu begin to fidget excitedly.

Wiping her hands on a napkin, Mei opened the book and had she been drinking; she would have spat out her drink at the sight of an odd human-shaped face with long dark hair and eyes staring up at her.

“What is this,” laughed Mei as she took in the picture. “I thought you said you could draw.”

“I didn’t say I could draw well,” laughed Yuzu, stealing the remaining fries. “But I did say I could draw, and I did draw something.”

“It certainly is.” Mei picked the book up and couldn’t help but admire Yuzu’s gall and found that while it wasn’t technically great, Mei had to admit it did have a certain charm to it. “What’s it supposed to be?”

“I thought it was kind of obvious.” Mei watched as Yuzu’s smile grew a little more sheepish. “It’s supposed to be you.”

Mei felt her ears burn at this revelation and stared back down at it and after a minute she did see a vague resemblance. Smirking, Mei picked up her pencil and waved at Yuzu, “Come here.”

“Why,” asked Yuzu after nervously swallowing the last of the fries. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Not necessarily.” Mei tapped the blank page next to Yuzu’s drawing and then pointed at the seat next to her. “I mean, to be honest, the adage is true that art is subjective. But if you're going for realism, I thought you might like a lesson or two in how to make me look a bit more like myself.”

The look on Yuzu’s face was one of absolute delight, and she practically leaped over the table to sit next to Mei. For the next few hours, Mei patiently walked Yuzu through a lesson in basic facial drawing and before they knew it, their friends had left and by the time the last call came around, Yuzu was pleased with her progress and Mei had to admit she was mildly impressed at the woman’s ability to focus.

When they finally had to leave, Yuzu offered to pay for them to share a cab, but Mei declined to explain that she lived nearby.

Saying that she understood, Yuzu pulled a business card out of her purse and scribbled something on the back and handed it to Mei saying, “Thanks for talking to me tonight and covering the tab. Hopefully, we can do this again?”

“I don’t see why not.” Mei took the card and helped Yuzu into her cab. “Have a good night.”

Yuzu returned the compliment and when she was gone Mei flipped the card over and blushed when she read:

  
_Thanks for the lesson tonight and hanging out with me. If you wanna do it again, here’s my personal number and email. I look forward to hearing from you._

When she was done reading it, Mei slipped the card into her wallet and headed home where she spent a few more hours painting, this time followed by staring at the card for a bit and fighting the urge to send Yuzu a late night text, before falling asleep.

For the next week, Mei resisted the compulsion, but finally, after some goading from Harumi about heading out to see a movie, Mei gave in and decided that it would be a little less awkward to have a third person come along and sent Yuzu a text and immediately regretted it.

While no stranger to texting, Mei hated the anxiety of waiting to see her phone light up with an alert. She much preferred the direct contact a phone call had, and Mei wished she had taken that route and hated not knowing why she was so nervous.

Deciding it best to occupy herself, Mei spent the next few hours working on a few of her commissions, getting lost in the concept art she'd been asked to design for a horror video game that was supposed to be released in a couple of years, and Mei was tagged to help with the environment designs. Just as she finished a particularly dark scene involving a decrepit house and destroyed street, Mei heard her phone ping, and she nearly fell on her face as she ran to see who it was that replied.

Catching herself on the dresser, Mei grabbed her phone and flipped it open, seeing Yuzu's name next to the message alert.

Opening it, Mei felt her throat close when she saw the reply read:

_Sure! I don't have any plans tomorrow! I'm glad you finally got back to me, I was worried I might have scared you giving you my number so quickly. Do you and Harumin have a time you want to head out?_

Taking a moment Mei processed how best to respond and then shakily typed out:

_I'll check in with her and get back to you, and I'm sorry that it took a while for me to reply. I got swamped with work, but I'm glad you answered. Anyway give me a while to get ahold of Harumi, and I'll let you know what's going on. I'll see you tomorrow._

After sending it Yuzu told her that she was looking forward to hearing back and after talking with Harumi, Mei learned that Harumi would be available after seven and when Mei told Yuzu the time the blonde replied with:

_It's a date!_

Mei smiled and typed back:

_See you tomorrow._

After sending the message, Mei stared down at her phone and after reading Yuzu's reply shouted, "WAIT?! WHAT?!"

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mei attends the movies with Yuzu and Harumi, but the evening doesn't go quite as well as the artist planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some news around my life
> 
> it has been a bit of a pain.
> 
> Number 1) I will continue Uncomfortable Truths! I never planned on canceling or discontinuing it.
> 
> Number two I need to finish another project before I go back to it.  
> .
> 
> Number three someone by the name of Uroko did an excellent bit of fan art for me of Mei with tattoos! If you're on Amino, you can see it there!
> 
> it can be seen here https://78.media.tumblr.com/370ca81ad7e7feddb2781ee3679495a5/tumblr_paz70q4NHL1uj6vulo1_1280.png
> 
> 4) I have an exciting Citrus based project I need to work on as well before fanfics, so you guys will, unfortunately, need to wait a bit longer. SORRY!
> 
> Now let’s get started on making Mei into a dork.

  
Chapter 3

Why did I bother getting so worked up? It’s a stupid movie, not a date.

Mei looked up at the street signs, trying to get her bearings and sighed loudly and scratched her head.

She should have realized that Yuzu would be the kind of person to throw an idiom like that around casually, given the company she usually kept.

Even Mitsuko would have caught onto the fact that Yuzu hadn’t been serious, but for some reason, Mei had taken it that way, so much in fact that when her father had called her earlier that evening, she’d made the mistake of telling him about it.

“I don’t think she meant it that way, Mei,” he’d laughed over his cup of cappuccino. She’d managed to get him as he was eating his breakfast and Mei had suddenly realized how hungry she was. “I mean you’ve only met her twice and the first time you two practically ripped each other’s heads off. I highly doubt she’s willing to go on a date that quickly. But then again; it’s not entirely out of the question. It's happened before so what's to stop it from happening again."

“That’s not very helpful,” Mei snorted as she finished tying her shoes.

“Well, what can I say,” shrugged Sho after swallowing a large chunk of pastry, “people do strange things.”

“You truly are no help.” Mei walked over to her desk and began looking for her wallet. “I don’t know why I bother asking you for advice.”

“Because you need it.” Sho shrugged and let out a loud sighed as Mei continued slamming drawers. “Mei, can you calm down and listen to me for a minute?”

Mei slammed one final drawer, finally finding her wallet and shoved it into the pocket of her hoodie and stared down at her laptop, her scowl staring up at her from the corner of her screen.

“What is it, Father? I’m already running late, and I don’t...”

“Breathe,” said Sho calmly taking a deep breath of his own. “Can you do that?”

Grumbling, Mei did as he asked and took a long deep calming breath and exhaled loudly while her father did the same.

“Are you feeling better,” asked Sho after his third long breath.

“Not particularly.” Mei pulled her wallet out and flipped through the bills in the center, glad to find that she didn’t need to stop by an ATM. “But I am willing to listen a little more.”

“Okay.” Sho wiped his mouth and tried his best to smile at her. “All I’m going to tell you is to keep calm and don’t force anything. She already did the family a huge favor finding one of Dad’s paintings, and we both know how hard it is for you to get along with people.”

“I could have done without the insult.” Mei picked up a half-emptied bottle of water and drained it. "Also what's your point? Harumi already said something similar."

“My _point_ , Mei, is that if she said she wanted to see and talk to you again, you must have done something right and whether it’s platonic or possibly romantic shouldn’t matter. Just relax and enjoy it. It’s a movie and Harumi will be there with you, and you said she’s friends with Harumi, so maybe she’ll spend more time talking to her than she’ll spend talking to you so you won't have to worry about making an ass out of yourself.”

“That’s…,” Mei turned to her father and saw an expectant smile on his face, and she refused to say anything more. “Never mind.”

“Mei,” Sho shifted in his chair, a chuckle in his voice, “you know you’ve never had to hide your preferences from us. I mean I know your grandfather wasn’t the most open-minded about things like this, but I thought he handled it okay.”

“He was very supportive, all things considered.”

Despite what people had thought about her grandfather’s strict nature in raising her, he had never begrudged Mei when she’d managed to find someone she had a romantic inclination for; not that it mattered given all the time she spent under his tutelage and traveling with him over her summer vacations.

But when she did have the chance, Mei usually found herself in this exact situation.

Practically every time she found someone she enjoyed talking to, she'd get too ahead of herself, and managed to screw it up somehow. Whether it was misreading signs or being too forward, Mei’s love life was practically non-existent given her obsessive nature and pouring her energy into finding her grandfather’s work, and as she finished her second bottle of water, she sighed as managed to listen to her father's voice.

“He was,” agreed Sho as he shifted in his chair and smiled up at her, “and I know I’ve been a shit father but...”

“Shit is an understatement,” snorted Mei after dumping her bottle in her recycle bin.

“That’s fair.” Sho leaned back and raised his hands in defeat. “I screwed up, and that’s why we’re in this predicament, but I’m trying to help you so can you please give me one more minute before you storm out the door?”

Mei pulled open her phone and held up her clock app and started the timer.

“One minute, Father.”

“All right.” Sho coughed and took a sip of his refilled cappuccino before continuing. “I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but the best advice I can give you is to stop worrying about if she likes you. All I want you to do is enjoy yourself and have some fun if you do that, then situations like this will be a lot easier for you and your friends. Can you do that for me?”

Mei looked down at her clock and saw that she was thirty-seconds left and nodded.

“I’ll do my best, Father. You are right, for once, and I will let you know how it goes.”

“I’m not asking...”

“You will ask. I know you will,” snorted Mei before shutting off her phone's timer, “and with that your minute is up. Enjoy your breakfast, Father. I’ll speak with you later.”

“Have fun, Mei!”

After shutting her laptop, Mei left and had spent the majority of her walk to the theater pondering over her father’s words, hating that he was right but knowing that it was indeed the best course of action.

Cramming her hands into her pockets, Mei sighed in relief when she finally saw the sign to the movie theater and trudged forward, kicking a soda can before throwing it in a nearby trash can as she approached the ticket counter and paid.

Once inside, she headed up to the bar of that the theater had and after having her I.D. checked ordered a cocktail that was a mix of Curacao, vodka, and champagne. Mei had to admit it was good, if a bit bitter and noted the slight aftertaste of orange in it with that complimented the champagne. After another sip, Mei ordered a chicken, shrimp, and steak wrap with chips and cautiously sipped her drink while trying to ignore the audio of some reality show that was playing on one of the televisions hanging from the ceiling.

Pulling out her phone, Mei was surprised that even though she’d left nearly ten minutes late, she was still a little early and sent a text to Harumi saying that she was sitting at the bar waiting for them.

Just as she hit send, her food appeared, and the scent of the soy and garlic marinade made her stomach growl and forgetting all pretense, she began eating the wrap eagerly. She finished the first half in only a minute and took a deep drink of her cocktail before picking up the second half. After taking a big bite, Mei noticed that some lettuce dropped down her front and before she could clean herself up a pair of hands grabbed her sides and started to tickle her.

“Hey Mei,” shouted a familiar voice making Mei jump out of her seat, nearly dropping her sandwich.

“That’s not funny Harumi,” panted Mei, turning around, lettuce and sauce staining her chin, glaring at the brunette who was now laughing while Yuzu simultaneously failed to hide her laughter behind her hand and as she stared at the menu board.

“Clean yourself up,” giggled Harumi handing Mei a napkin, distracting her from her view of Yuzu.

“You know I hate it when…,” Mei stopped, her ears burning as she wiped her mouth and listened to Yuzu order a drink and a tub of bacon popcorn a small smile still on her lips.

After regaining her composure, Mei leaned in and whispered, “Don’t do that again, do you hear me?”

“Uh huh.” Harumi winked and patted Mei on the shoulder before whispering, “You afraid I’m gonna tell your girlfriend about how much you hate getting tickled?”

Mei’s nostrils flared at the question, and she was prepared to tell Harumi off, but Yuzu appeared behind Harumi with a blood red drink and quietly asked, “Everything okay?”

“We're fine,” huffed Mei, pulling away from Harumi and straightening her hoodie before stepping back over to her food and drink.

“What’d you do?” Yuzu turned to Harumi and slapped her shoulder.

“Nothing,” giggled Harumi before pointing at Yuzu’s drink and handed over her I.D to the bartender who nodded in understanding. “All I did was tease her a little.”

Harumi reached out for Mei’s side, but Mei was ready for her and moved away quickly before sitting down on one of the stools.

“Do that again, and I’m going to leave.”

Mei turned her gaze toward Harumi, glaring at her so coldly that all the color drained from her friend’s face.

“All right.” Harumi raised her hands and took her drink and then a large handful of freshly popped popcorn. “You win, no more tickling or jump scares; scout's honor. Deal?”

“How about you buy me a couple more drinks and then we’ll call it even for tonight.” Mei held up her nearly empty glass and shook it, and Harumi sighed in defeat.

“Can she get another one of whatever that is, please?”

“Thank you,” Mei took a bite of her wrap and then nodded at Yuzu. “Nice to see again, Yuzu.”

“Hi, Mei.” The blonde took a bite of popcorn and licked a bit of the salt off her thumb. “How’ve you been?”

“I've been doing well.” Mei finished her food and decided to order some popcorn for the movie before returning her attention to the blonde while Harumi perused the menu. “I finished a fair amount of work, added more to my plate, and am still waiting for the police to inform me about the status of my grandfather’s case. How about you?”

“I’ve had a similar week.” Yuzu hopped into the chair next to Mei and offered up her popcorn while they waited for Mei’s to arrive. “I had to deal with some stuff involving a few clients. I lost one to an agency, which I don’t blame him for seeing as how I have to charge a bit more as an independent agent to keep myself in the black and then there’s….”

Yuzu stopped talking and looked down at her phone, her eyes growing wide.

“Oh, shoot. I’ll be right back; I gotta take this.” Yuzu excused herself and answered the call and nervously said, “Hey! How are you? Me? I’m...”

Yuzu walked out the door and Mei could see how relaxed her face was and how happy she looked as she talked to the person on the other end.

“Good thing we’re catching the later movie,” chuckled Harumi taking another bite of the popcorn. “’cuz she’s going to be a while.”

“Is it an important call?” Mei watched as Yuzu waved at them before returning to her conversation, looking like she was having the time of her life.

“It is, and it isn’t,” shrugged Harumi before sipping at her drink. “She takes a call like this every Wednesday and Saturday at exactly seven-forty-five, talks for about half-an-hour then goes on with her night.”

“Why?” Mei continued to watch Yuzu, curious as to what was getting the blonde to shake her arms so animatedly as she talked.

“It’s not my place to say.” Harumi coughed and scratched her cheek. “I know you guys are kinda getting along, but I don’t feel comfortable telling you that.”

“I understand.” Mei gave a polite nod and smirked as she stared down at her phone, hoping that Yuzu would be able to make it back in time and after deciding not to worry about it spent the next half-hour catching up with Harumi and explaining how she was slowly getting back into practice painting large canvas pieces.

“It sounds like the old Mei is starting to come back.” Harumi held up her glass and smirked as Mei reluctantly clinked their glasses together. “So you gonna submit anything for us to sell or is it competition piece?”

“It’s just practice.” Mei yawned and nibbled on a few pieces of popcorn while Harumi busied herself with tossing kernels in the air and tried to catch them in her mouth.”I don’t plan on doing anything with it.”

“You know we’d still accept it,” said Harumi through a mouthful of bacon and popcorn. “Someone would still buy it, even if it isn’t something you’d consider great.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Mei reached over put a piece of bacon into her mouth and watched as Yuzu continued to laugh, wishing she’d brought her sketchbook with her; instead, she pulled the pen out of her inside pocket and began sketching her tub of popcorn, trying to keep her attention on her drawing.

“So, why did you invite Yuzucchi along?” Harumi took another large handful of popcorn and popped a few more bits into her mouth seemingly pleased about something.

“Do I need a reason?” Mei shot a peripheral glance toward Harumi and pointed down at her nearly empty glass.

“Not until you tell me why,” Harumi sipped at her drink and grinned malevolently up at Mei.

“Can I get something different, please," asked Mei slowly growing annoyed by her friends incessant questioning. "Whatever you choose is fine by me.”

The bartender agreed, and Mei returned to her drawing, ignoring Harumi as the brunette continued to chew on her popcorn loudly, refusing to break eye contact.

“Come on, Mei. Tell me what’s going on.” Harumi reached up and tried to poke Mei’s ear only to have her hand slapped away.

“I told you that if you did that again, I'd leave and you're pushing your luck.” Mei’s gaze refused to leave her paper, but Harumi could tell by how she was gripping her pen that the woman meant business.

“That’s fine with me.” Harumi twirled her straw around in her drink, her smile refusing to leave her lips. “Yuzucchi’s my best friend so, I don’t mind hanging out with her alone, unlike some people.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Mei set her pen down and turned, her face stern as she menacingly rapped her fingers on the counter.

“What I mean is that you’re a wuss.” Harumi sucked down the rest of her drink and giggled. “You’re doing the same thing you always do.”

“Enlighten me.” Mei took her drink and popcorn and began walking toward the theater with Harumi dogging her every step.

“What I’m saying is you’re doing the same thing you used to do back when we were in school.” Harumi’s pace quickened, and soon she was standing in front of Mei while simultaneously walking backward. “You’re doing that thing where you don’t know if you like a girl, so you use me as an excuse to hang out with her instead of just asking her how she feels.”

“No, I’m not.” Mei tried to move around Harumi, but the brunette blocked her every one of her attempts, much to her annoyance.

“Then why’d you invite her?” Harumi stepped up and poked her face into Mei’s, causing Mei to take a step back. “I mean you’ve only talked to her a couple of times so why are you suddenly asking her out?”

“Because you told me to,” whispered Mei, while looking over her shoulder to make sure Yuzu couldn’t hear them.

“What are you talking about?” Harumi nearly dropped the food she was carrying at hearing that she was responsible for Mei’s behavior. “I never said anything about using me as some sort of buffer for you to get into her pants.”

“When did I ever say that?” Mei was lucky she hadn’t been drinking anything or else she was certain she’d have choked. “What on Earth makes you think that’s my intention?! I’m only doing this because you mentioned that I should be nicer to her for helping me and that’s what I’m doing. Just because I’ve found her to be a better person than I initially thought doesn’t mean that I’m trying to date her.”

“Uh-huh.” Harumi reached up and pointed at her ears and snickered. “Your ears are telling a different story Mei, but I’ll let it slide for now. Who knows, maybe you’re telling the truth, or maybe you’re lying. We’ll soon find out.”

Harumi pointed over Mei’s shoulder, her grin going from mischievous to malevolent as Yuzu shouted at them from the end of the hallway.

“There you two are!” Yuzu skidded to a halt next to Mei, her hands filled with a covered drink and a brand new steaming basket of bacon covered popcorn. “You two scared the crap out of me! I thought the movie’d already started!”

“We still got a few minutes,” giggled Harumi holding up Yuzu’s first basket of popcorn which was still nearly full. “Did you seriously think I ate all of it?”

“Well, this is fresh,” pouted Yuzu before bending her neck and picking a few kernels of popcorn; smiling as she munched on them happily. “You can have that basket.”

“Gee thanks.” Harumi lifted the basket and stared at the grease that was staining the wax paper and shrugged. “Well, at least it’s free, and I haven’t eaten today, so I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“Nothing but the best for my bestie,” giggled Yuzu as she snuggled up close to Harumi before sneaking a drink from Harumi’s glass.

“Hey back off you leech!” Harumi gently shoved Yuzu off of her before trying to steal some of Yuzu’s popcorn, both of them laughing while Mei watched this curious display play out.

She’d never seen Harumi act like this before and Mei could only remember a handful of occasions where she’d ever been so engaged with someone. It was back when she was a child spending her summer vacations in Japan with her grandfather while he was on one of his tours and Mei suddenly realized that it'd been almost a year since she'd last spoke with her best friend. While Harumi and Yuzu laughed and chased each other around the hall, Mei pulled out her phone and looked for a number she hadn’t called in over a year and typed out a quick message, hoping she’d hear back from the recipient.

“Everything okay, Mei,” panted Harumi after finally evading a winded Yuzu.

“Everything is fine.” Mei hit the send button and placed her phone back into her pocket and turned her head to see Yuzu panting almost as heavily as Harumi. “I was just sending a text to an old friend.”

“Seriously? You have friends outside of me and the others?”

“Why are you surprised?” Mei shifted her drink and popcorn, hoping she didn’t spill anything and frowned at Harumi. “You and I only met in high school, is it that hard to believe that I had other friends before you?”

“Just didn’t think they’d stick around as long as me,” commented Harumi after another long sip of her drink. “Ah dammit I’m almost out. You two go grab the seats I’ll be right back.”

Mei noticed Harumi wink at her as she ran off leaving Mei and Yuzu and Mei alone in the slowly filling hallway.

“So,” coughed Mei as she gestured toward the door to the theater as a large group entered. "Shall we?"

“Sure!” Yuzu smiled up at her and followed behind a group of people. Once inside, Mei began looking around anxiously for some seats, and before she could find them, Yuzu pointed at a few toward in one of the back rows. “Let’s get those, that way if we gotta get up we won’t bother anyone.”

“Okay,” agreed Mei without any resistance as that was where she preferred her seats.

“Which one do you want?” Yuzu allowed a few people to enter and interjected when a couple of them sat down in one of the seats they needed. “Sorry, but can you let us have that one? We need it for our friend.”

The girl in the group sneered at Yuzu but after seeing Mei standing behind her, decided to keep her mouth shut and moved toward the opposite end of the row.

“What’s her problem,” grunted Yuzu, taking the middle seat while Mei took the end.

“I don’t know.” Mei leaned back, glad to see that the chairs reclined a bit as she closed her eyes. “Nor do I want to.”

“Oh.” Mei heard Yuzu’s chair squeak and opened her eyes to see Yuzu staring at the screen as she fiddled with her popcorn.

Mei noticed that Yuzu looked a little put off by the answer and with a slight pang of guilt, Mei picked up her drink and held it out for Yuzu.

“What’s this?” Yuzu took the cup and sniffed the drink while staring at Mei. “This a mimosa cuz it kinda smells like one.”

“It’s a variation I believe.” Mei nibbled on a piece of bacon just as the lights dimmed and the commercials began playing. “It’s some sort of fruit bitter and champagne I think. It’s better than I expected.”

Yuzu leaned forward and took a cautious sip and smacked her lips before shrugging and taking another sip.

“I like it,” whispered Yuzu leaning over and handing the glass back to Mei. “Wanna try mine?”

“Sure.” Mei took the drink and took a long drink. It tasted like raspberry and something else, but she couldn’t place it, but it wasn’t bad, and she handed the glass back over to Yuzu and nodded. “I think I’ll get that next time.”

“What’d I miss,” whispered Harumi before stopping and staring down at them in surprise.

“Nothing,” answered Yuzu, pointing at the seat next to her. “We saved you a seat so hurry up and sit your butt down.”

“Sorry,” said Harumi as she snuck past Mei, not wasting the opportunity to kick Mei’s foot as she walked by.

“What was...”

Several people shushed them, and Mei refused to waste the opportunity to glare at a snickering Harumi who was in the process of stealing fresher popcorn from Yuzu who was failing miserably at stopping her.

“Stop,” giggled Yuzu as she pulled the basket away, almost knocking Mei’s drink out of its cup holder and into her lap.

“Will you two quit it,” snapped the woman behind them, hitting Mei in the back of the head with what Mei could only assume was a tub of popcorn.

“Sorry,” giggled Yuzu before handing Mei her popcorn. “Protect this with your life.”

“Sure,” Mei added Yuzu’s popcorn to her own and began nibbling on it as the previews started.

None of them looked that interesting to her, she rarely went to the movies, preferring to watch them as she read a book or worked. She did occasionally host her friends when she had them over for the evening, though the truth was that more often than not they forced themselves into her home and took over her living room leaving her little choice but to entertain them.

Most of the time she didn’t mind as it offered her a welcomed break from her work, and it did help ease the emptiness that had been present ever since her grandfather had passed away and it did help clear out any old food she had in the fridge, especially when it came to Matty’s bottomless pit of a stomach.

  
But today was different, and she had to admit that the company had something to do with it.

Usually, the only time she went to a movie was if it looked aesthetically pleasing, which more than not left her bored out of her mind. The last time she’d done that was when she saw a boring science-fiction movie where the only exciting part about it was this idea of people shopping in a parallel universe. She’d walked out of it about an hour in and by that time it was too late for her to get her money back for the time wasted and she ended up spending the rest of her afternoon in Mitsuko’s shop. As the movie started, Mei’s hand rubbed the very top of her neck, feeling the inked results of that wasted afternoon.

While her fingers caressed her skin, Mei lost focus on where she was and when she felt Yuzu’s hand reach for the popcorn she jerked so hard that she sent half the bucket into the air, showering herself and the people in front of her with stray kernels and bacon. The woman and man behind them both groaned loudly and left with the faint hint of a complaint about speaking to management.

“I am so sorry,” whispered Harumi to the people in front of them and pointed at Mei, “she doesn’t get out much, and scary movies aren’t her thing.”

Mei felt the urge to smack Harumi upside the head, but the people in front of them said they understood.

“I can’t believe they fell for that,” whispered Yuzu after motioning for Mei to hand her the popcorn. “The movie hasn’t even started yet.”

“Well, she wasn’t exactly lying.” Mei stole some of the popcorn and chewed quietly. “I’m not much of a fan of horror movies.”

“Then why’d you agree?” Yuzu took Mei’s glass and stole another drink as the movie started.

Mei turned her head and watched as the light of the movie reflected in Yuzu’s eyes, and she felt her cheeks and ears turn red before quietly saying, “I have my reasons.”

Two hours and several drinks later the three of them left the theater laughing at how horrible the movie had been.

“I can’t believe that people thought, that was scary,” laughed Harumi, leaning on Yuzu’s shoulder as they headed down the sidewalk and pointed at Mei.

“Oh leave her alone,” giggled Yuzu, shoving Harumi gently while Mei continued to blush furiously. “You knew she didn’t like scary movies so why’d you invite her.”

“I dunno.” Harumi stepped away from Yuzu and wrapped her arm around Mei’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s because she’s been like this since we first and she’s always trying to prove how cool she is and I get off on seeing the cracks in her armor?”

“Get off,” grunted Mei, practically shoulder checking Harumi into a store display.

“Easy tiger.” Harumi returned the gesture, though with much more force, knocking Mei into Yuzu.

“Hey watch it,” screamed the blonde and Mei felt something cold soaking through her sweater. “Dang it, Harumin. You made me spill my drink and look what happened to Mei.”

“It’s fine.” Mei slipped her arms into her hoodie and lifted it over her head before tying it around her waist. “See, just a minor inconvenience.”

“All right.” Mei could swear she saw Yuzu’s face turn red for a moment but was sure it was just a trick of the street lights. “I’m still sorry that it happened.”

Yuzu’s eyes turned to Harumi who was suddenly interested in something on her phone.

“Hey,” Yuzu grabbed Harumi by the shoulder and got her gentle headlock, “you need to apologize to Mei for being so rude.”

“Fine,” whined Harumi before shoving Yuzu off and returning the favor, rubbing her fist into Yuzu’s head as she smiled at Mei. “I’m sorry for shoving you into Yuzu.”

“It’s all right.” Mei frowned at the lack of sincerity in Harumi’s voice, knowing since the beginning that it was intentional. “But you might want to let her go; I don’t think she enjoys you doing that to her.”

“She’s used to it.” Harumi ground her fist into Yuzu’s head one last time before letting her go. “Aren’t you Yuzucchi?”

“You’re worse than Matty,” whined Yuzu, rubbing the sore spot on her head. “Seriously are you sure you two aren’t sisters?”

“Me and that gremlin?!” Several people stared at the brunette making both Yuzu and Mei laugh at her embarrassment. “Are you sure you sure you aren’t huffing the paint your clients are using because I could swear you got brain damage.”

“I admit to nothing.” Yuzu reached out and flicked Harumi’s forehead and giggled before dodging a half-hearted punch.

“Whatever,” Harumi smirked and patted Yuzu on the head and yawned. “Anyway, I’m gonna call it a night. Do you need me to walk you home or can I catch a cab or a rideshare or something?”

“I think I’ll walk.” Yuzu pointed at the large splotch on the sleeve of her zip-up and shrugged. “It’s a little warmer out than I thought and it’s such a nice night. Plus I need a breather after everything that’s been going on lately.”

“Is everything all right?”

Yuzu turned to Mei and gave her a cheery smile and nod. “Yeah, everything is fine. I’ve just got a lot going on, and I could use a break.”

“Do you want some company?” In her peripheral vision, Mei could see Harumi roll her eyes, but didn’t pay her any mind. “It’s getting a little late so it might be safer. Not to mention we did have our fair share of drinks.”

“I’d appreciate it.” Yuzu smiled and then turned to Harumi. “Are you going to be okay waiting for your ride or do you want us to wait?”

“Naw, I’ll be fine.” Harumi waved in a manner that told Yuzu that she should get going. “My ride’ll be here in about ten minutes; I’ll chill for a bit. Take care of her, got it?”

Mei gave Harumi a crisp nod and waited while the two women said their goodbyes.

When the did separate, Harumi winked at Mei and said, “Have a good night you two,” in a way that, despite her steadfast denial, reminded the raven-haired woman of Matty.

  
As they headed down the street, Mei for the first time took notice of Yuzu’s outfit and was amazed that Yuzu even owned such a simple outfit. She’d half expected Yuzu to follow Harumi’s lead, in wearing a skirt and a lower cut top, but instead Yuzu chose to wear a pair of jeans, a zip-up sweater and a tee-shirt that had some weird creature on it that Mei vaguely remembered from her childhood, and a worn pair of tennis shoes. Her hair was put up in a couple of pigtails that Mei would have customarily thought as childish, but somehow the blonde managed to pull it off.

“Is everything okay?” Yuzu adjusted her purse; her eyes focused on the path ahead of them.

“Yeah, everything is fine.” Mei coughed and rubbed her neck and smirked. “I’m sorry if my offering to walk you home was a bit forward.”

“Why would I think that?” Yuzu smirked up at her and Mei could see that her cheeks were still a bit red.

“Since we don’t know each other that well,” Mei began as she brushed some hair behind her ear, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to know where you live.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true.” Yuzu put her hands in her pockets and stared down at her shoes. “Well, to be fair, you are a friend of Harumin’s, and she’s not exactly an open book, so you’ve gotta be doing something right if she trusts you.”

“I don’t do that much.” Mei shrugged and rubbed the top of her back tattoo. “Honestly if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t have much of a life.”

“How come,” asked Yuzu innocently as they waited for the crossing light to change only to apologize. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry.”

“I don’t mind talking about it,” said Mei, though she felt an odd pain in her stomach as she tried to find the words. “It’s just that, Harumi was the only real friend I had when we were in school.”

“Really?” Yuzu looked surprised at this revelation and waved her hand up and down at Mei’s clothes. “Who wouldn’t want to be friends with this?”

“Plenty of people,” Mei smirked and gave Yuzu an awkward sideways glance. “I wasn’t unpopular, but too many people looked down on me thanks to my how much money my family has. Then there was the fact that I was valedictorian and I had several art colleges looking at me for scholarships, and a lot of people resented me for it, so they just decided to leave me alone.”

“So how’d you meet Harumi?” Mei could see that Yuzu felt terrible for her, but was trying her best not to be judgemental.

“We were in art class one day, and she needed some help, so I helped her.” Mei held up her hand and mimicked sketching. “After that, we started talking and hanging out which made me a little more popular but not much, but it got a lot of people off my back, though not much.”

“I know how that feels.”

“Really?” Mei repeated the same gesture that Yuzu had done to her making them both laugh.

“Shut up.” Yuzu gently nudged Mei with her elbow before stroking the end of her pigtail.

“So what was it that made people not want to talk to you?” Mei, her kept her eyes locked on Yuzu, thankful that the streets weren’t too crowded, not to mention that she wanted to see more of Yuzu’s reactions, hoping that it might inspire her a little later.

“Ummm,” Yuzu’s cheeks turned red, and she twirled some hair around her finger before saying, “my dad….my dad’s a cop.”

“Why would that make people not want to talk to you?” Mei knew that most kids at that age didn’t have much respect for people in positions of authority, but she didn’t see that as a reason to not try and be friends with them or their kids. “I mean, my grandfather may have gotten his start doing protest pieces, but he did always do his best to try and do them within the confines of the law.”

“Yeah well, it’s a little different when you’re in high school and want to go to parties, but no one wants you around because they think you’re going to narc on them.” Yuzu’s body stiffened, and Mei watched as she began chewing nervously on her lower lip.

“So what did you do? If you don’t want to tell me right now, I understand.” Mei was curious about what Yuzu’s life had been like during that time but didn’t want to push her too far. She knew that strain all too well, and she didn’t want to risk her new friendship just because she was curious.

“I did what a lot of people do; I tried to fit in.” Yuzu pointed at her ears and wrists. “The clothes you saw me in last time? I bought them because I thought it would help me fit in and it kinda worked. A few people started inviting me to parties, and I thought I made a lot of new friends. But one day I did something pretty stupid, and it kinda killed my popularity until college.”

“What happened?” Mei was feeling particularly invested by this point and hoped her curiosity wasn’t getting the better of her.

“I may or may not have figured out a way to get a fake I.D. and offered to...buy some booze for a party.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah.” Both Yuzu and Mei shared a chuckle before allowing the blonde to continue. “I...got busted. Made it to the liquor store, got the beer, and some harder stuff and as we were leaving one of the cops that works in my dad’s department saw me and one of the older kids that was with me, and when they tried to stop us, they ran, and I just froze.”

“Were you still holding...”

“Well they managed to run off with the beer,” giggled Yuzu as they stopped at a crosswalk. “But I got caught with like I think it was three bottles of whiskey, some rum, and a bottle of tequila.”

“That is an incredibly accurate inventory,” Mei said somewhat impressed that Yuzu remembered all of that.

“Stuff like that tends to stick with you when you’re sitting in a jail cell in a skirt, and a crop top and the only thing your dad does to help you is to allow your mom to bring you a change of clothing.”

“So I’d be correct in saying that there’s a mug shot?” Mei gave Yuzu an expectant look and grinned when she saw Yuzu’s face turn red.

“Yes,” grunted Yuzu through gritted teeth.

“Can I see it?”

“No, you cannot.” Yuzu turned her nose up and began walking a bit faster.

“Why not?” Mei matched Yuzu pace for pace, thankful for the height difference between them. “I’m not going to tell anyone about it, and you don’t have to send it to me. I want to see it.”

“I said ‘no.’” Yuzu looked over her shoulder, and when she saw that Mei was only inches behind her, she began walking a little faster. “Besides, even if I wanted to show you, it’s not like I have it on my phone. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of.”

“But we were just laughing about it,” countered Mei, increasing her speed and was soon matching Yuzu step for step. “I figured since we were laughing it was something you were okay with showing me.”

“And I’m telling you that I’m not.” Yuzu stopped and stared up at Mei defiantly. “Why should I show you an embarrassing picture of me when I don’t get the same from you?”

“That’s a reasonable argument,” said Mei feeling a bit ashamed of herself. “I’m sorry if I offended you. I just wanted to see it since the only other person I know who’s ever gotten arrested is Matty and she had no problem showing off what happened to her.”

“I know all about that,” sighed Yuzu shaking her head. “Harumin and I were the ones who bailed her out, and she’s still paying us back for it.”

“You were the one who went with Harumi to get her out of jail?”

Mei remembered that night quite vividly. It had only been a year ago when Matsuri had called her out of the blue asking to come down to the nearby police station saying she’d been in a fight and was being held for a drunk and disorderly charge that was what she had called, “Complete bullshit.”

Mei had refused the request and told her to try Harumi or her parents, citing she had several deadlines she needed to make and couldn’t be bothered and that if Matty was in jail, she probably was guilty, though it turned out Mei was only partially right. The full story was that Matty had gone to a bar with her friend Nene and some guys had tried to hit on them. Matty and Nene had both declined and which the two guys didn't take too well, causing things to escalate quickly. Both Nene and Matty along with the two male friends that had accompanied the girls got into an altercation with the men where all arrested and because everyone involved had already had a couple of drinks the cops decided to add an extra charge.

Luckily the judge had been lenient and dropped the charge and as an apology, Mei had bought Matsuri dinner one night as an apology, and all was forgiven.

“Yeah, I was the one who went with her,” said Yuzu tiredly as they began walking again. “I met Matty around the same time I did Harumin, and since then she’s practically been stuck to my hip. But I think that night she wasn’t exactly keen on letting me know about it since I’m always on her about getting her act together.”

“How long have you known them?” Mei was still amazed that in all the years she’d known Harumi that they hadn’t once been introduced.

“Since freshman year of college.” Yuzu put her hands behind her back and began doing some weird march as the continued walking. “We were assigned as roommates, and we hit it off right away, we even had similar class schedules, so we became best friends almost immediately. How long have you known her?”

“End of junior year in high school,” said Mei quickly. “We’d been at the same school since freshman year, but never really talked until that whole art thing. We aren’t close like you two are though, so maybe that’s why we didn’t meet until now. Of course, we didn’t talk that much while she was away at school, so that didn’t help.”

“But we’re talking now,” said Yuzu happily as they turned left, “and like they say, ‘good things come to those who wait.’”

“Thanks.” Mei felt her ears burn at the compliment and said, “But I’m glad you enjoy talking with me, I’ve been told by several people that I’m rather difficult to get along with. My father included."

“You are rather blunt,” giggled Yuzu slowing her pace, “and you aren’t exactly the most open person, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s just who you are.”

“Thanks.” Mei continued walking but stopped when she realized that Yuzu was no longer following her. “Is something the matter?”

“Uh kinda.” Yuzu pointed at a building with large glass windows and shrugged. “This is my building, so I kinda have to...”

“Oy, YUZU!”

Both women turned their heads, and Mei nearly recoiled when she saw a tall, muscular, tanned man dressed in slacks, shirt, and tie waving from down the street carrying a couple of plastic bags and pulling a rolling suitcase behind him.

“Oh my god!” Yuzu’s face lit up, and she immediately forgot all about Mei and ran toward the man before jumping at him. “Henry!”

“Careful,” grunted the man as he tried to push the blonde off of him. “You know I don’t...”

“Aw quit complaining and give me a hug,” laughed Yuzu as she wrapped her arms around the man’s neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

“Okay,” groaned the man before carefully wrapping his arms around her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over,” sighed Yuzu as she climbed out of his arms and placed her hands on his cheeks. “I would have come home earlier.”

“It was a bit of an inconvenience,” said the man rather annoyed. “But, you told me you had plans, so it wasn’t that bad. Thank you for telling me in advance. Is that the friend you were going out with?”

“Yeah!” Yuzu turned her attention back to Mei and ran over and pulled her toward man. “Henry this is my new friend, Mei Aihara. Mei this is Henry.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said the man in flawless Japanese.

“The pleasure’s mine,” said Mei instinctively switching to Japanese and adding a slight bow to her greeting. “Your accent is quite good.”

“Thanks,” answered the man with an uncharacteristically bashful grin. “It’s all thanks to Yuzu; she’s the one who taught me.”

“And I’m very proud of you,” answered the blonde, following suit. “Mei, do you wanna come up?”

“I’m good,” said Mei feeling like she’d be little more than a third wheel after seeing such an intimate display of affection. “I would hate to intrude, it seems like you two need to have some time to yourselves.”

“It’s not a problem,” answered Henry, continuing the use of Japanese. “Well, not much of one.”

“Henry, you're being rude,” whispered Yuzu with a gentle elbow to his ribs.

“Oh.” Henry winced and rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t trying to be.”

“It’s fine,” said Mei faking a yawn. “I need to go home and finish some work before going to bed. I got a lot of deadlines coming up."

“Okay,” said Yuzu sounding disappointed before taking the bags from her companion, looking a little deflated. “Um, I have some days off coming up soon to attend an event. If you got the time would you like to come? If not I understand. Harumin told me you’ve been working on some video game art and comic books. One of my clients is in high demand for that kind of work right now and...yes Henry I got the samples, they’re upstairs.”

“Thanks,” said the man with the look of a kid who just got what he wanted for Christmas. “I’ll be sure to send them a thank you note. That’s what I’m supposed to do right?”

“Yeah.” Yuzu gave the man an approving smile and squeezed his hand. “But are you sure you don’t want to join us, Mei? You can crash...”

“I’ll be fine,” said Mei rather abruptly making both Yuzu and Henry jump back a bit. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to yell. I’m a bit tired and stressed out, so I won’t make good company right now.”

“Okay.” Yuzu looked nervous and instead of looking at Mei focused on her feet. “Did you still want to maybe come to that event with me though?”

“If I get done with my work, I’ll consider it.” Mei smiled tiredly at Yuzu and waved at them. “Anyway, I better be going. You two have a good night.”

“Good night, Mei.”

“It was nice to meet you.”

As she wandered down the street, Mei began kicking herself mentally as she realized Harumi had been right in her assumptions and after resisting a particularly strong urge to kick over a sidewalk trash can, Mei stomped down the street, paying little attention to the few pedestrians that were still on the sidewalk. By the time she reached her house, Mei was cursing and when her phone rang she didn’t even bother to look at the phone as she answered it.

“What,” she shouted into the phone not caring who was on the other end.

“Mei-Mei,” said a cautious voice making Mei immediately regret her anger. "Is everything okay?"

“Himeko?” Mei ran a hand through her hair and as she entered her house and slammed the door, not realizing that she’d slipped into speaking Japanese for the second time that night. “What are you doing calling me at this hour?”

“I was answering your text,” said her best friend nervously. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you, I forgot about the time difference.”

“No, no, I’m the one who should apologize.” Mei sighed and headed into the living room and dropped onto the couch, throwing one of her left leg over the side of the couch while tapping her right foot against the arm. “It’s just been a difficult week, and I’m feeling a little tired. It’s good to hear your voice; I’m sorry I haven’t called you.”

“It’s okay,” said Himeko with a happy sigh. “It’s good to hear your voice too. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Mei smiled as she remembered all the summers they spent running around Himeko’s family home playing games, drawing, and even attending festivals together. Outside of the friends she had now, Himeko had been the only real friend she had, and she felt horrible for neglecting their friendship for so long. “We need to catch up. Are you going to be heading back to this side of the world soon?”

“Actually," chuckled Himeko after silencing a yipping dog, "I’ll be in your area soon for a show and was going to be calling you soon to see if I could borrow the guest room.”

“That’s not a problem,” yawned Mei as she pulled her sweater off before grabbing the blanket she kept on the back of the couch and turned the television on. “I’ll make sure to clean it up before you get here. You have a time frame?”

“I'll be in at the end of next month,” said Himeko happily. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Do you think we can spend some time doing sightseeing? I can bring some gifts back for your relatives!”

“That sounds nice,” said Mei as she buried into the blanket and stared blankly at the television as she remembered the sight of Yuzu kissing Henry on the cheek. “I’ll make sure to get done with all my work before then and keep it to a minimum in preparation for your visit.”

“Thanks, Mei-Mei,” giggled Himeko excitedly. “What’s going on with you? Anything big happening?”

“No,” sighed Mei as she felt a slight pang of nausea as the sight of Yuzu getting cozy with Henry played again in her mind. “Just the usual.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himeko makes her debut, I hope you guys like her career. I'll get to more soon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been six months since I wrote this and oof I don't know how this is going to go.
> 
> A lot...has happened in my life and if you've read my other stories you know what happened if not here's a short breakdown:
> 
> Bad depressive state, moved across the country, recently I had a bad head cold, and my grandfather died. That was last week and now my mom has pneumonia! The location I transferred to is just a nightmare, so I’m working on figuring out how to transfer or quit and look for a new job. I’m sorry I left you guys hanging with this story, but I’ve been thinking about it.
> 
> Also I cut this chapter off earlier than I intended. it'll pick up right away in chapter 5 but after 6-7 months of not writing this story...I didn't want to get in over my head and I'm sorting out how I want this conversation to continue and where to take the rest of the story. Sorry if it confused you. I haven't had a lot of confidence in my writing lately so I'm trying to figure out when and where to cut off so I don't overwhelm you all, like I did with my fiasco chapters in "Uncomfortable Truths" 
> 
> First thing is: I’m thinking of turning this into a book! Would you guys like that? TOTAL retcon on the characters, origins, stuff like that, but...I think it could work. How about you guys?
> 
> Second of all: I need help with cosplay for a character called Caduceus clay and Fjord. If you know what I'm referring to, feel free to drop a line.

 

Chapter 4

“That should do it,” grunted Mei as she tossed the last garbage bag into her trash can, before wiping away some sweat with the towel she was keeping in her back pocket, proud of what she’d accomplished.

It had taken almost five hours for her to clean out the guest room and her back was killing her, though she only had herself to blame.

Ever since her grandfather had died, she’d had no reason to use the room since her and her father had their rooms, so she’d ended up using it as a means of storage for old cans of paint, brushes, and tarps she’d been too lazy to throw away.

Thankfully, most of the items she’d kept in there held no sentimental value, but that didn't make her feel better about it. Ever since her grandfather had died, she'd done her best to keep the house clean, but it had been a wasted effort. That much was evident when she saw the evidence of mice having inhabited the room forcing her to call an exterminator to investigate the house.

It had been an awkward meeting as it essentially forced Mei to admit that her living conditions had fallen further than she'd thought. Once the issues were identified Mei spent a fortune hiring a cleaning crew to come in and clean up the mess she'd wallowed in over the past several years. Though she did make sure to tell them which rooms were off limits as she would be cleaning them herself. Luckily, they didn’t ask too many questions, and when they were gone, Mei hardly recognized the house and spent any time she had not working doing laundry and any remaining menial tasks that required her attention.

But finally, after two weeks of hard cleaning, Mei could finally say she was finished and was looking forward to a relaxing shower and a long sleep.

Stretching her Mei let a loud sigh and twisted, only to grunt when she felt several loud pops go up and down her spine.

“That wasn’t smart,” she groaned, slamming the trash can shut and headed back into the house, clutching her side in pain, though smiling at the fruits of her labor. “But it sure was worth it.”

Pulling her shoes off, Mei made her way into the kitchen and took a deep breath, amazed at how different everything looked and smelt. While she didn’t care for the lingering scent of lemon, she had to admit it was nice not having to watch where she stepped out of fear of tripping over something and breaking her neck. Grateful for finally being able to relax, Mei pulled a soda out of the fridge before heading into the living room and dropping onto the couch and turned on a news channel.

Barely paying any attention to the report, Mei sipped her soda and scrolled through her phone, looking or any signs of an email or text from her clients, Himeko, or Yuzu.

It had been almost three weeks since she’d heard anything from Yuzu and when she’d asked Harumi about how Yuzu was doing during her most recent session with Mitsuko, the brunette had said she didn’t know anything about it.

“I haven’t talked to her since the movie,” had been Harumi’s answer while she messed around with something on her phone. “She’s been busy lately and had to meet with a bunch of her clients and had to head out of town to meet with one of the companies that use her to scout for them. Why? Did you two have a fight or something?”

“Nothing like that,” had been Mei’s reply, feeling relieved that Yuzu hadn’t said anything to Harumi about how she’d stormed off. “I was just wondering if she was okay since I hadn’t heard anything either. Is it normal for her to disappear like this?”

“I wouldn’t say she disappears." Himeko gave Mei a cautionary glance over her phone and shrugged. "She gets busy this time of year, so I’ve gotten used to it. Why? You want me to ask her if she lost your number or something?” Harumi’s eyes held a mischievous smirk, causing Mei to blush and shift uncomfortably, earning her a growl from Mitsuko.

“Stay still, unless you want me to screw this up.”

“Sorry,” Mei returned to her original position and avoided Harumi’s reflection and began focusing on the familiar, soothing sensation of the tattoo needle, “and no, you don’t need to do that. I was just curious, that’s all.”

“Whatever,” chuckled Harumi before excusing herself to go and meet up with some friends.

That had been four days ago, and as she gently tapped her side to stave off the itching her tattoo was causing, Mei pulled up Harumi’s number, staring at it, her thumb hovering nervously over the call button as she contemplated whether or not to ask if Yuzu had been in contact.

“Better not,” said Mei quietly, deciding that by doing so might make her come off as clingy or obsessive.

Despite wanting to apologize for her reaction and to ask about Henry, Mei knew it was none of her business what the blonde got up to when she wasn't around. Yuzu had no obligation to her and Mei didn’t want to impose anything on her that she didn't want or wasn't interested in she couldn't resist reading last text message Yuzu had sent her before the movie.

_I’ll see you there! I’m excited to see you again!_

“She was being friendly,” Mei told herself, ignoring the burning in her ears as she remembered the sound of Yuzu's voice saying her name. "That's it, nothing more."

Setting the phone down and cracking open her tea, downing it in a few gulps. When she finished, Mei took a look at the clock and saw she had a good four hours before she had to leave for the airport. Deciding that she'd risk a nap after a quick shower, Mei got ready to climb to her feet until she saw her phone screen light up, followed by the heavy vibrations it made against the oak coffee table.

Excited at the prospect that it might be Yuzu calling her, Mei practically lunged for the phone, but only succeeded in dropping it on the floor.

"Damn it,” groaned Mei when she saw it slide under the couch.

With a pained grunt, she got to the ground and being careful not to agitate her still healing tattoo, she grabbed her phone, recognizing the number as HImeko's and answered it with a worried, “Hello? Himeko?”

“Mei-Mei!”

On impulse, Mei’s head jerked away from the phone, but in doing so, she hit her head on the underside of the coffee table causing her to howl out in pain.

“Mei-Mei are you all right,” she heard Himeko’s worried voice shout from the other end. “What happened?”

“Stop yelling, please,” winced Mei as she felt the back of her head, already feeling a welt starting to form. “I hit my head on the coffee table, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure,” cried Himeko, her voice still elevated but a great deal lower than it had been. “It sounded painful.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Climbing to her feet, Mei returned to the kitchen and after grabbing an ice pack asked, “What about you? Is everything okay? Did your flight get delayed.”

“Not exactly,” chuckled Himeko over what sounded like two dogs. “Shush Pucchi, Yukio. I know you’re excited to see Auntie Mei-Mei, but you need to keep it down.”

Mei smirked when she heard a few whimpers and the sound of a voice saying something to Himeko.

“That’s very kind of you,” answered Himeko in heavily accented English, “but we’ll be getting out soon, and I can handle them. Oh, why thank you.”

“What happened?” Mei shifted the ice pack and winced, but sighed in relief as the coolness. “The cab driver didn’t ask you out did he?”

“Very funny” giggled Himeko in Japanese. Mei could hear the sound of a door opening but a lack of traffic and wondered where Himeko was. “He gave me a card for a cafe that caters to dogs, and I’m thinking of visiting it when I have the time.”

“Well let me know where it is, and maybe we can plan a trip there when we both have time off.” Mei filled a glass with some water, sipped it after popping a couple of aspirin in her mouth. “Where are you anyway? Did you have to stay overnight somewhere? Did your flight get delayed?”

“Umm no," giggled Himeko. "I'm almost at your front door believe it or not."

“No, you….”

Mei stopped short as the muffled sound of barking dogs echoed through the front windows followed by a loud knock.

“I hate you,” laughed Mei, hanging up the phone just as Himeko began to laugh; her feet moving her subconsciously toward the door.

Her hand extended, shaking in excitement at finally being able to see her best friend after almost six years. A smile was affixed firmly to her face as she reached for the handle, pressing it down before she pulled open the massive slab of wood. The first thing she heard was the loud, shrill barks of the two small purebred dogs Himeko had brought with her almost everywhere, followed by the excited scream of her best friend and her vision being obstructed by a frilly, bright pink dress, spiraled hair, a large, bushy pair of eyebrows, and what felt like a wrecking ball slamming into her chest.

“Mei-Mei,” squealed Himeko as they tumbled to the ground as the dogs ran around them, barking excitedly as they climbed over Mei and their owner, leaving tiny scratches on their arms in an attempt to lick them. “It’s been so long! I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too.” Mei did her best to hug the wriggling mass that was her best friend while trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her side and head.

“How are you,” asked Himeko, straddling Mei and staring down at her while the dogs sat on either side of her friend’s head. “I didn’t hurt you did I? Did you hit your head again?”

“No, my head is fine,” said Mei trying to sound reassuring, her face turning red when she realized the position they were in. “But I’d appreciate it if you got off of me, you’re hurting my side. Not to mention how this would look if someone were to walk in on us.”

“What?” Himeko sat up and looked down at how she was sitting, her face turning as bright as her dress when she saw how she had positioned her legs.

“So...sorry,” stammered Himeko before sliding off of Mei and returning to the door so she could bring in one of her suitcases.

“It’s okay.” Mei winced as she stood up, holding her side as she helped Himeko with her luggage. “What are you doing here, I thought you wouldn’t be here until this evening? I had everything planned out.”

“I managed to catch an earlier flight,” giggled Himeko before reaching into her purse and pulling out a couple of treats, catching both of her dogs attention. “Which is beneficial for me since it gives me a little more time to prepare them for the show and to check out the competition.”

“Is this a big competition,” asked Mei, watching as Himeko put the dogs through a short series of routines, unaware that she had slipped into Japanese, “or are you meeting clients that are interested in your next litter?”

“It’s not a big competition,” answered Himeko once she was satisfied with the dog's behavior, "but it is important. It’s a gateway competition, and if either of them places well, I will be able to come back for the one in New York, and I might even be able to go to England. Well, I mean I’ll be able to go regardless, considering I’m handling two major competitors in both. But I’d also like to go with my dogs, not just as someone else’s trainer.”

“You’ll get there,” said Mei patting Himeko’s head gingerly.

“You think so?” Himeko stood up and turned to Mei, eyes watering. “Do you think I’ll be able to make it?”

“Well if you handle Pucchi and Yukio the same way you handle your client's dogs, I have no reason to doubt that you’ll be able to make it.”

“Thanks, Mei-Mei,” said Himeko, wiping away a tear, “it means a lot to hear….wait...what did you mean by ‘the way I handle my client’s dogs’?!”

“That you’re good at your job,” replied Mei, rubbing her nose with her finger. “You know, like the way you lead that big shaggy dog, I think it was called a Wolfhound, around the floor or that German Shepard. I don’t understand it but you...”

“You watched that?!”

Mei took a step back as Himeko’s face flooded her vision and barely avoided stepping on the dogs.

“Please stop yelling,” asked Mei quietly while gently pushing Himeko off of her. “You’re making my headache worse, and yes I saw it. Your parents sent me an email about it, and I had a little free time between jobs when it aired so I spent a couple of days watching it. It was...interesting. I never knew the judges had to _touch_ the dogs so much.”

“It takes some getting used to,” giggled Himeko when she saw Mei’s face turn a little red, looking down at Pucchi who had made a spot for himself underneath the hallway side table, a glum look clouding her face. “Especially for him. He got disqualified in his first competition last year because he bit the judge when he started inspecting him.”

“What happened after that,” asked Mei, taking a step toward Himeko and placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder, squeezing it when she felt how violently it was shaking. “Did...are you in trouble?”

“It depends on who you talk to,” sniffed Himeko, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I had some ulterior motives when I asked you to stay with you. You see...I...”

“Let’s take this to the living room,” said Mei, gesturing toward the couch when she saw how raw her friend’s eyes were. “You’ve had a long trip, and I’ll make you some tea or would you like something else?”

“Tea would be lovely.” Himeko tried to smile but only managed a weak grin. “Also, could I possibly trouble you for a cool towel?”

“Sure.” Mei placed her hand on the small of Himeko’s back and led her into the living room, with the dogs hot on their heels, their nails clicking on the hardwood floor as they panted excitedly.

After making sure Himeko and the dogs were comfortable, Mei headed to the kitchen and prepared the tea and towel while grabbing a few of Himeko’s favorite snacks. When she returned to the living room, Mei was surprised to find that her friend had sunk so far into the couch that she looked like she was about to be swallowed by it.

“Here we are.” Mei set the tray down and cautiously lifted Pucchi off Himeko’s lap and set him next to Yukio, causing the female dog to growl while Pucchi nuzzled and licked Himeko's arm.

“Help me up,” sighed Himeko holding her hands out. “Please?”

“All right,” grunted Mei taking her friend’s hands and feeling the familiar twinge of pain in her side but fought through it so she could attend to her friend’s needs. When she was upright, Mei gave Himeko the towel before preparing the tea.

“Thanks, Mei-Mei,” sighed Himeko, as she adjusted herself and wiped her face, letting out a satisfied sigh as the coolness of the towel soaked into her raw skin. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to talk about this right when I showed up.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Mei gave Himeko the warmest smile she could as she poured the tea. “I’ve missed talking to you. I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch more, and from the look of it you’ve wanted to talk about this for a while, so please don’t hold back.”

Himeko accepted the tea and snapped up one of the cookies Mei had put on the table. She bit into it and chewed it slowly, her eyes surveying the living room while Mei sat patiently, drinking her tea waiting for her friend to answer.

“The house looks a lot cleaner than when I was last here,” said Himeko, noticing how clean everything was. “Have you hired a housekeeper?”

“I’m thinking about it,” sighed Mei, knowing that Himeko was staving off her explanation. “I hired a cleaning company after I started cleaning the guestroom. It was disgusting, and I didn’t want you to see that.I’m sure my grandfather and father would be ashamed of how I treated the house.”

“I see,” said Himeko sipping her tea and sighing. “But doesn’t your father visit you occasionally? Wouldn’t he have said something?”

“He does visit, but it’s normally only for a night or when I’m out of town.” Mei gulped her tea and set her mug down and moved a little closer to Himeko. “If he does show up, the most I see of him are some flowers or a gift on the kitchen table. But that’s beside the point, Himeko so please stop dodging my question and answer me. Are you in trouble or is this just a work visit?”

“It’s a combination of both,” said Himeko over the lip of her mug.

“How? It’s all right for you to tell me these things, I won’t laugh.”

Mei’s voice was quiet, but carrying a warmth that only a small number of people managed to coax out of her.

Even though they’d been friends since they were children, Mei could count the number of times she and Himeko had fought on one hand. The last time being when they were twelve when Mei had visited Japan with her grandfather for the duration of her summer vacation.

While most people were often amazed that the two of them were friends, but neither of them thought anything about it. Since their families had been friends for generations, the two of them were just naturally drawn to one another and Mei found Himeko’s more energetic and positive attitude refreshing, not to mention how well it translated into her work breeding and training dogs.

However, it was Himeko’s attitude that always made it easy for someone as socially awkward as Mei to tell when something was wrong, and despite her concern, she found herself getting annoyed with her best friend’s aloofness.

As she poured herself another mug, Mei caught a glance of Himeko’s face out of the corner of her eye and noticed a stream of tears pouring down Himeko’s face as she clutched both of her dogs tightly in her arms.

Setting aside the mug and teapot, Mei moved closer to Himeko and awkwardly put her arm around her best friend’s shoulder and pulled her close, where despite the discomfort, Mei felt glad that Himeko didn’t pull away.

Instead, Mei allowed Himeko to rest her head against her shoulder, staining it with tears as she cried, "I'm sorry, Mei-Mei!" 


	5. Update about story

Hey everyone!

So, I'm sure a few people are wondering what the heck is going on with the latest chapters and it's a bit of a long story.

First off I quit my job in February, tried to find a job for 4 months in Vegas and did not have any luck. Went into a MAJOR depressive state, consisting of some binge eating, lazing about on the couch, and both my GF and I had some DANGEROUS thoughts which I'm sure given what I just said is self-explanatory.

Needless to say it's been a couple of trying months and to be honest we didn't know how it was going to turn out as my girlfriend also had a major problem with her job involving her becoming unemployed. We had to break our lease and move back up to Seattle and in with my mom and oddly enough within a few weeks...we both now have jobs. I start mine on Tuesday and my girlfriend starts hers in July. She's going to have to sell her soul to my old employer for a month but she'll have a new and better job in July and we hope to be out of my mom's house before Christmas.

I know this kind of stuff doesn't matter to some of you, but I know there are a few people who do enjoy my posting new chapters and wonder when I'm going to post and so I thought I'd let you know that in regards to Autumn's bounty I'm about halfway done with chapter 11 and with A Fresh coat that's going to take a it longer but I'm trying.

Once again life managed to kick me in the testicles and it has not been fun.

However one good thing that happened was that Mistiqarts managed to do 3 commissions for me. You can check out her or my instagram account and it uses this user name Mizutanitony. I hope you like them and after I earn some decent money and get some bills taken care of I'll have more commissions for you guys. Also...once again A Fresh Coat will be my next attempt at writing and publishing a novel so if I don't post that a lot it's because I'm trying to make it into a book. But I'll try and get the fic done soon. Some people are still curious about who Henry is.

Also...as a surprise for you guys...I'm going to be posting two one-shots! One of which MANY people have asked me for...and uhhh...yeah it'll...let's just say you'll learn what happened when Mei spilled the beans to Udagawa...that's all. The other one may have you guys punching me in the gut. But hey, what is art without risk.

I love you guys and have an awesome summer! I'll have something for you all REAL soon.


End file.
